UC-NRLF 


Ifi    321 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA. 


FROM   THE    LIBRARY   OF 

DR.  JOSEPH    LECONTE. 

GIFT  OF  MRS.   LECONTE. 
No. 


VASSAR  COLLEGE. 


ITS    FOUNDATION,    AIMS,    RESOURCES,    AND 
COURSE    OF   STUDY. 


MAY,    1873. 


v  MVKHS1TY 


<  ALIKOKNIA 


VASSAE  COLLEGE. 

A  COLLEGE  FOB  WOMEN, 

IN  POUGHKEEPSIE,  N.  Y. 


A    SKETCH 

OF   ITS   FOUNDATION,    AIMS,    AND    EESOUKCES,    AND    OF    THE 

DEVELOPMENT   OF    ITS    SCHEME    OF  INSTRUCTION 

TO    THE    PRESENT    TIME. 

PREPARED  BY  THE  PRESIDENT  OF  THE  COLLEGE, 

AT     THE     REQUEST     OF     THE     UNITED     STATES    COMMISSIONER    OF    EDUCATION, 

MAY,    1873. 

LI  IJ  U  A  K  Y 

N  i  vTnTKTTY   <>F 


CALIFORNIA 


NEW-YORK  : 

S.  W.  GREEN,  PRINTER  AND   STEREOTYPER,  16  &   18  JACOB   ST. 

1873. 


To  THE  HONORABLE  JOHN  EATON, 

U.  S.  Commissioner  of  Education  : 

SIR  :  I  have  the  honor  to  acknowledge  the  receipt  of  your 
request  that  I  would  furnish,  for  transmission  to  the  Inter 
national  Exposition  at  Vienna,  in  connection  with  other  docu 
ments  relating  to  our  American  systems  of  popular  and  higher 
education,  a  statement  of  the  aims  and  resources,  the  plan  of 
organization  and  methods  of  instruction,  of  the  institution  with 
which  I  am  officially  connected.  I  comply  the  more  cheerfully 
with  your  request  from  a  conviction  that,  as  an  experiment  of 
liberal  education  for  that  sex  to  which  liberal  education  has  in 
general  been  hitherto  denied,  Yassar  College  is  the  object  of  a 
deeper  interest  among  the  enlightened  friends  of  human  culture, 
on  both  sides  of  the  Atlantic,  than  would  be  due  to  any  intrinsic 
merits  either  of  its  plan  or  its  administration.  The  same  con 
sideration  will  perhaps  justify  a  greater  minuteness  of  detail, 
especially  as  regards  the  development  and  present  condition  of 
its  system  of  instruction,  than  would  otherwise  be  called  for. 
What  is  familiar  to  experience,  and  might  be  regarded  as  almost 
a  matter  of  course,  in  a  college  for  young  men,  may  be  novel 
and  unique  in  a  school  for  young  women,  and  may  need  to  be 
told  in  order  to  mark  with  precision  the  progress  already  made 
in  this  interesting  enterprise. 

Much  has  already  been  written  and  published  in  relation  to 
Yassar  College.  But  it  has  related  almost  exclusively  to  its  ex 
terior  equipments,  and  to  those  aspects  of  its  inner  life  which 
would  be  most  likely  to  strike  the  eye  and  engage  the  interest 


4 

of  the  transient  visitor.*  But  little  has  yet  been  made  public 
which,  would  aid  the  practical  educator  to  form  an  intelligent 
estimate  of  the  value  of  its  educational  work,  or  to  assign  it  its 
exact  place  among  the  educational  institutions  of  our  country 
and  the  world.  It  is  hoped  that  the  present  exhibit  may  in  a 
measure  supply  that  deficiency.  A  sufficient  reason  for  silence 
hitherto  may  be  found  in  the  fact,  which  will  come  out  clearly 
in  the  course  of  the  following  statement,  that  the  past  has  been 
a  period  of  experiment  and  growth,  the  permanent  results  of 
which  could  not  safely  be  predicted  even  by  those  most  con 
versant  with  its  progress. 

I  had  reckoned  upon,  and  should  have  preferred,  a  decade  of 
this  busy  silence.  But  the  specialty  of  the  present  call  for  in 
formation  could  not  be  overlooked.  And  perhaps  now,  after  a 
full  seven  years'  trial,  though  we  trust  the  college  has  not  yet 
passed  the  period  even  of  its  infant  growth,  it  may  reasonably 
be  expected  that  some  definite  report  should  be  made  as  to 
what  we  are  attempting  to  accomplish,  and  what  amount  of 
success  we  have  thus  far  attained. 

I  have  the  honor  to  be 

Very  truly  and  respectfully  yours, 

JOHN  H.  RAYMOND, 
President  Vassar  College. 


*  All  necessary  information  of  this  kind  may  be  found  in  an  authentic  form, 
and  accompanied  by  diagrams  and  numerous  pictorial  illustrations,  in  the  vol 
ume  entitled  "  Vassar  College  and  its  Founder,  by  Benson  J.  Lossing,"  a  copy  of 
which  is  sent  herewith.  That  volume  was  prepared  by  one  of  the  trustees  of 
the  college  and  an  intimate  personal  friend  of  Mr.  Vassar.  As,  however,  it  was 
written  soon  after  the  opening  of  the  college  and  when  its  educational  work 
had  only  just  begun  to  take  shape,  a  supplementary  statement  has  become 
necessary. 


VASSAR  COLLEGE. 


THIS  institution  is  situated  on  a  farm  of  about  two 
hundred  acres,  lying  two  miles  east  of  the  city  of  Pough- 
keepsie,  on  the  eastern  bank  of  the  Hudson  River,  in  the 
State  of  New  York. 

FOUNDATION   AND    RESOURCES. 

FOUNDATION. 

The  foundation  of  the  institution  was  laid  in  1861 
by  Matthew  Vassar,  of  Poughkeepsie.  The  act  for  its 
incorporation  passed  the  legislature  of  the  State  in  Janu 
ary  of  that  year.  On  the  26th  day  of  February,  Mr. 
Vassar  formally  transferred  to  the  Board  of  Trustees 
securities  to  .the  amount  of  $408,000,  which  he  had  set 
apart  for  the  carrying  out  of  his  design. 

In  1864,  he  purchased  and  presented  to  the  college, 
for  its  Art  Grallery,  a  collection  of  pictures  and  books  on 
art,  at  a  cost  of  $20,000.  The  college  was  opened  in 
September,  1865. 

Before  his  death,  in  June,  1868,  he  had  loaned  to  the 
college  moneys  needed  for  additional  constructions,  to 
the  amount  of  $75,000;  which  indebtedness  he  canceled 
by  his  last  will. 


6 

He  also,  by  that  instrument,  made  the  college  the 
residuary  legatee  of  his  estate,  directing  that  the  proper 
ty  should  be  invested  and  held  in  trust,  the  annual  in 
come  only  to  be  expended  for  certain  specified  uses,  to  wit : 

(1.)  $50,000  as  a  "Lecture  Fund,"  for  employing 
distinguished  persons,  not  officers  of  the  college,  to  de 
liver  lectures  from  time  to  time  on  literature,  science,  and 
art; 

(2.)  $50,000  as  an  "  Auxiliary  Fund,"  for  aiding  stu 
dents  who  are  of  superior  promise,  but  unable  to  defray  the 
full  expense  of  their  education,  to  an  extent  not  exceed 
ing  in  any  case  one  half  the  regular  charge  for  board  and 
tuition ; 

(3.)  $50,000  as  a  "Library,  Art,  and  Cabinet  Fund," 
for  the  preservation  and  enlargement  of  the  library,  art 
gallery,  and  cabinets  ;  and 

(4.)  The  balance  of  the  residue  (which  amounts  to 
about  $125,000)  as  a  "  Repair  Fund,"  to  meet  the  ex 
pense  of  necessary  repairs  and  additions  to  the  buildings 
and  other  college  property. 

The  gifts  of  the  founder  amounted  therefore,  in  the 
aggregate,  to  about  $778,000. 

The  only  other  important  donations  have  been  the 
following : 

(1.)  A  collection  of  North- American  Birds,  present 
ed  by  Mr.  J.  P.  Giraud,  Esq..  of  Poughkeepsie,  which, 
when  completed,  will  be  worth  from  ten  to  fifteen  thou 
sand  dollars ;  and 

(2.)  A  permanent  scholarship,  presented  by  Alanson 
J.  Fox,  Esq.,  of  Painted  Post,  N.  Y.,  secured  by  an  actual 
investment  of  $6000 


The  last  annual  report  of  the  Kegents  of  the  Univer 
sity  of  the  State  of  New  York,  for  the  year  ending  Sep 
tember,  1872,  showed  the  following  to  be,  at  that  time, 
the 

VALUE    OF   THE    COLLEGE    PKOPERTY. 

I.    Unproductive  Property. 

Grounds  (200  acres)  and  farm-house,    .       .   $40,000  00 
Main  edifice,  observatory,  and  all  other  build 
ings,          .  ...    $400,308  48 


Total  real  estate,  .       $440,308  48 

Furniture  and  fixtures,     ....     $66,022  79 
Library,    ....  .  11,721  05 

Art  Gallery, 27,097  86 

Apparatus  of  Instruction  : 

Mathematics  and  Physics,  .  $5,380  00 
Astronomy,  ....  8,108  44 
Anatomy  and  Physiology,  1,168  35 

Music,          ....     11,00000—25,65841 
Cabinets  of  Natural  History  : 

Geology  and  Mineralogy,  $8,500  00 

Zoology  and  Botany,  .  4,367  41 
Giraud  Cabinet  of  Birds,  .  5,865  00—18,732  41 


$149,232  52 
Other  personal  property,     .  225  00 


Total  personal  property,       .      $149,457  52 
Aggregate  amount  of  unproductive  property,$594,576  80 


x* 


f    UNIVERSITY   } 

V 


OF 

m.  ,  ~ 


8 

The  above  statement  (excepting  $5000,  the  estimated 
original  value  of  the  Giraud  collection)  shows  only  the 
money  actually  paid  in  the  purchase  of  property,  pre 
vious  to  September  1,  1872,  out  of  Mr.  Vassar's  gifts 
and  the  earnings  of  the  college.  It  does  not  include 
additions  since  made,  nor  a  large  number  of  occasional 
donations  to  the  scientific  collections,  which  would  add 
several  thousands  of  dollars  to  the  aggregate  value  of 
the  property. 

II.  Productive  Property. 

Founder's  Funds : 

Lecture  Fund,  .  .  .  $50,000  00 
Auxiliary  Fund,  .  .  .  50,000  00 
Library,  Art,  and  Cabinet  Fund,  50,000  00 
Kepair  Fund,  ....  125,000  00—275,000 

Fox  Scholarship, 6,000 


Aggregate  amount  of  productive  property,  .      $281,000 
These  funds  are  all  invested  in  good  securities,  bear 
ing  interest  at  7  per  cent  per  annum. 

STUDENTS'  FEES. 

It  will  be  seen  that  no  provision  is  here  made  to  meet 
the  current  expenses  of  the  college.  Thus  far,  the  sala 
ries  of  instructors  and  other  officers  and  employees,  with 
all  the  necessary  expenses  of  a  domestic  establishment  of 
more  than  five  hundred  persons,  have  been  defrayed  from 
the  only  source  of  revenue  available  for  these  purposes, 
namely,  the  students'  fees  for  board  and  tuition.  The 
regular  charges  are  as  follows : 


9 

Board,  (covering  light,  heat,  and  washing,)    $300  per  an. 
Tuition,  in  all  collegiate  branches,       .         .     100      " 

Making  a  charge  (uniform  for  all)  of  .  $400  per  an. 
Additional  for  extra-collegiate  branches  : 

Piano-forte  or  organ  playing,    .           .  $80  per  an. 

Solo  singing,     .          .          .           .  90      " 

Drawing,  painting,  or  modeling,         .  .    60      " 

The  Founder's  "Auxiliary  Fund"  and  the  "Fox 
Scholarship"  provide  for  the  payment  in  full  of  the 
board  and  collegiate  tuition  of  ten  students. 

PERSONNEL  OF  THE  COLLEGE. 

The  following  is  an  exhibit  of  all  the  persons  connected 
with  the  college  in  1871-72  : 

Students,  (average  attendance  through  the  year, 

the  whole  number  being  415,)        .         .         .         390 

Officers  of  Instruction : 

President  and  Lady  Principal,    .  2 

Professors,      ....          .          .          8 

Assistant  Teachers, 28—  38 

Business  officers : 

Registrar,    Superintendent,    Steward,  Matron, 
Janitor,  Engineer,  Farmer,  and  Gardener, 
Employees  and  Servants, 120 

Whole  number  of  persons,  .  .  .  556 
All  but  ten  of  whom  reside  on  the  college  grounds,  and 
nearly  all  are  members  of  the  college  family. 


10 

EXPENSES. 

The  average  annual  expenses  since  the  opening  of  the 
college  may  be  stated,  in  round  numbers,  as  follows  : 

Salaries  of  officers  of  instruction,  "".  $40,000 

Salaries  of  business  officers  and  wages  of  servants,  25,000 
Table  expenses,         ...  .  50,000 

Fuel,  repairs,  and  incidentals,         .         .         .         35,000 

Total  annual  expenses,  (average,)      .     $150,000 

EECEIPTS. 

The  average  annual  receipts  from  students  during  the 
same  period  may  be  stated,  in  round  numbers,  as  follows : 

For  tuition,  (including  all  extras,)         .         .       $50,000 

Board, 100,000 

Incidentals,  (books  and  stationery,  medical  attend 
ance,  damages  to  property,  etc.,)         .         .  5,000 


Total  annual  receipts,  (average,)          $155,000 

The  earnings  have  all  been  required  to  meet  current 
demands  for  additions  and  improvements  in  the  grounds, 
buildings,  furniture,  and  equipments  of  the  college. 

KESOUKCES. 

If  now  it  be  asked  what  are  the  actual  resources  of  the 
college,  it  will  not  be  difficult,  in  view  of  the  above  ex 
hibit,  to  answer.  In  addition  to  the  handsome  outfit  re 
ceived  from  its  Founder,  in  grounds,  buildings,  furniture, 
and  apparatus  of  instruction,  the  "  Kepair  Fund  "  pro 
vides  for  keeping  this  property  in  good  condition ;  the 


11 

income  of  the  "  Library,  Art,  and  Cabinet  Fund  "  will 
make  a  moderate  annual  addition  to  the  college  collec 
tions  ;  and  the  "  Lecture  Fund  "  will  yield  quite  as  large 
an  amount  as  can  profitably  be  expended  for  occasional 
lectures. 

But  there  is  no  provision  for  the  support  of  regular 
instruction  in  the  college,  nor  any  provision  except  the 
"  Auxiliary  Fund  "  and  the  "  Fox  Scholarship"  (equal  in 
all  to  ten  full  scholarships)  for  making  its  advantages 
accessible  to  any  who  are  unable  to  pay  the  full  cost. 
It  was  the  hope  of  the  Founder  that,  if  the  institution 
should  prove  a  success,  and  the  idea  on  which  it  was 
based  (that  of  a  TRUE  LIBERAL  EDUCATION  FOR  WOMEN) 
should  be  accepted  by  the  community,  Other  benefactors 
would  arise  to  carry  out  the  work  he  began,  by  endowing 
professorships  and  scholarships,  adding  to  the  library 
and  cabinets,  erecting  new  buildings  as  they  might  be 
required,  and  otherwise  augmenting  the  resources  of 
the  institution.  These  anticipations  still  remain  to  be 
realized. 

NEED    OF    SCHOLARSHIPS. 

The  accommodations  for  the  residence  of  students  have 
hitherto  been  fully  occupied,  and  the  receipts  have  been 
adequate  to  the  maintenance  of  the  expensive  system  of 
instruction  and  the  complete  domestic  establishment 
which  the  plan  of  the  college  requires.  But  the  necessity 
of  paying  so  large  an  annual  fee  for  board  and  tuition 
excludes  from  the  college  many  of  the  class  who  would 
be  most  benefited  by  its  advantages,  and  who  would 
render  to  the  community  the  amplest  returns.  Com- 


12 

paratively  few  of  its  students  indeed  are  from  very 
wealthy  families ;  and  many  enjoy  its  privileges  only  at 
the  cost  of  privation,  labor,  and  sacrifice  on  their  own 
part  and  that  of  their  parents,  or  through  the  generous 
kindness  of  personal  friends.  But  multitudes  who  ought 
to  be  liberally  educated  are  without  such  aids.  Young 
women  who  have  a  vocation  to  intellectual  pursuits,  as 
teachers,  authors,  physicians,  etc.,  and  who  therefore  feel 
most  deeply  the  need  of  thorough  intellectual  training, 
are  usually  unable  to  pay  its  pecuniary  cost.  Unless,  there 
fore,  men  and  women  of  wealth  shall  be  found  who,  moved 
by  the  spirit  of  enlightened  liberality  which  has  lavished 
such  vast  treasures  on  universities  and  colleges  for  the 
other  sex,  will  come  forward  to  add  to  its  endowments, 
though  Vassar  may  continue  to  hold  an  honorable  rank 
as  an  emporium  of  knowledge,  it  will  not  fulfill  the  most 
beneficent  purposes  of  a  school  of  liberal  culture ;  the 
highest  aim  of  its  Founder  will  not  be  accomplished ;  and, 
unless  other  foundations  are  elsewhere  laid,  Christendom 
will  still  remain  without  a  single  establishment  worthy 
to  be  called,  in  the  best  sense,  a  College  for  Women. 

OEGANIZATION. 

The  supreme  legislative  authority  is  vested  by  the  act 
of  incorporation  in  the  Board  of  Trustees,  who  act,  dur 
ing  the  intervals  between  their  annual  sessions,  through 
several  standing  committees.  The  chief  of  these  is  the 
"  Executive  Committee,  "which  meets  often  to  administer 
the  finances  and  material  interests  of  the  college,  and  is 
empowered  in  general  to  act  for  the  Board  of  Trustees  in 
all  matters  not  specifically  intrusted  to  other  officers  or 


13 

committees.  The  "  Committee  on  Faculty  and  Studies" 
is  charged  with  the  supervision  of  all  educational  inter 
ests,  and  especially  with  the  selection  of  the  officers  of  in 
struction.  The  other  standing  committees  are,  a  "  Com 
mittee  on  the  Library,"  a  "  Committee  on  the  Cabinets 
and  Apparatus,"  and  a  "  Committee  on  the  Art  Gallery." 

The  internal  organization  has  two  branches,  education 
al  and  domestic.  The  two  are  intimately  blended,  form 
ing  one  organic  whole.  Domestic  arrangements  have  of 
late  been  regarded  in  this  country  as  of  doubtful  utili 
ty  in  colleges  for  young  men  ;  but  they  were  deemed  by 
the  Founder  and  the  Board  of  Trustees  indispensable, 
for  the  present  at  least,  in  a  college  for  young  women. 
The  plan  of  the  buildings  and  the  organization  of  the 
college  have  been  adjusted  to  this  view. 

The  executive  head  is  the  President  of  the  college, 
whose  duty  it  is  to  watch  over  all  its  interests,  arid  to 
see  that  all  laws  and  regulations  prescribed  by  compe 
tent  authority  are  carried  out.  He  is  specially  charged 
with  its  discipline  and  with  the  moral  and  religious  in 
struction  of  the  students. 

The  Lady  Principal  is  the  chief  executive  aid  of  the 
President  in  the  government  of  the  college,  and  the  im 
mediate  head  of  the  college  family.  She  exercises  a  ma 
ternal  supervision  over  the  deportment,  health,  social  con 
nections,  personal  habits,  and  wants  of  the  students.  She 
is  assisted  by  nine  of  the  lady  teachers,  each  of  whom  has 
immediate  charge  of  one  of  the  college  corridors  ;  and  in 
matters  of  health  she  has  the  counsel  of  the  "  Resident 
Physician,"  who  is  a  regularly  educated  ^iiedical  woman, 


14 

and  who  has  under  her  direction  a  well-appointed  infirm 
ary  and  a  nurse. 

Each  Professor  is  the  responsible  head  of  a  depart 
ment  of  instruction,  charged  with  the  direction  of  its 
methods  and  apparatus,  the  organization  of  its  classes, 
the  distribution  of  its  work,  and  the  supervision  of  the 
assistant  teachers  therein. 

The  Faculty  consists  of  the  President,  Lady  Principal, 
and  Professors  of  departments  in  the  regular  college 
course,  and  is  empowered  to  make  laws  for  regulating 
the  internal  life  of  the  college,  both  educational  and  do 
mestic,  subject  always  to  the  authority  of  the  Board  of 
Trustees. 

Subservient  to  the  material  wants  of  the  college  and  the 
college  family,  are  various  business  departments,  namely  : 

1.  The  "  Treasurer's  -Department,"  for  the  transaction 
of  all  financial  business. 

2.  The  "  Steward's  Department,"  embracing  the  kitch 
en,  bakery,  dining-hall,  and  laundry. 

3.  The  "  Matron's  Department,"  for  the  care  of  the  pri 
vate  apartments  of  the  students,  with  the  chapel,  the  lec 
ture  and  other  college  rooms. 

4.  The  "  Engineer's  Department,"  for  the  management 
of  the  apparatus  for  making  and  distributing  gas  and 
steam,  (for  heating  and  cooking  purposes),  and  for  pump 
ing  and  distributing  water. 

5.  The  "Janitor's  Department,"  for   porterage,  ordi 
nary  repairs,  and  the  general  mechanical  care  of  the  prem 
ises. 

6.  7.  The  "Farm,"  and  the  " Garden." 

Each  business  department  has  a  responsible  officer  at 


15 

its  head,  all  acting  under  the  general  direction  of  the  Ex 
ecutive  Committee. 

A  superintendent  residing  on  the  grounds,  and  known 
as  the  "  Local  Agent,"  sees  to  the  execution  of  the  com 
mittee's  orders. 

THE    COUKSE    OF    STUDY. 

i 

HISTORY  OF  ITS  DEVELOPMENT. 

The  Founder  of  Vassar  College  did  not  establish  the 
institution  to  carry  out  any  peculiar  theory  of  education. 
His  motive  was  one  of  general  philanthropy.  He  sought 
for  some  beneficent  object  to  which  to  devotQ  the  accu 
mulations  of  an  industrious  life  ;  and  he  found  it  in  the 
erection  of  a  College  for  Women.  The  scope  of  the  idea, 
as  it  lay  in  his  mind,  was  simply  this,  "  to  found  and 
perpetuate  an  institution  which  should  accomplish  for 
young  women  what  our  colleges  are  accomplishing  for 
young  men." 

For  methods  of  procedure  he  relied  upon  others,  es 
pecially  upon  the  board  of  gentlemen  whom  he  had  selected 
to  be  his  counselors  and  the  ultimate  depositaries  of  the 
trust.  "  In  relation  to  matters  literary  and  professional," 
said  he,  in  one  of  his  early  addresses  to  the  board,  "  I 
can  not  claim  any  knowledge,  and  I  decline  all  responsi 
bility.  I  shall  leave  such  questions  to  your  superior  wis 
dom."  He  stipulated  only  that  the  educational  standard 
should  be  high, — higher  than  that  usually  recognized  in 
schools  for  young  women.  "  The  attempt  you  are  to  aid 
me  in  making,"  he  said,  "  fails  wholly  of  its  point  if  it 
be  not  in  advance,  and  a  decided  advance.  I  wish  to 


16 

give  one  sex  all  the  advantages  too  long  monopolized  by 
the  other." 

The  problem,  then,  which  the  Trustees  had  before 
them  was  this:  to  devise  a  system  of  intellectual  train 
ing  which,  while  adapted  to  the  special  wants  of  the  sex, 
should  be  of  as  high  a  grade  relatively,  and  should  ac 
complish  essentially  the  same  ends,  as  the  American  col 
lege  for  young  men, — in  other  words,  to  devise  a  system 
of  liberal  education  for  women.  What  should  it  be? 
What  elements  of  instruction  and  training  should  it 
embrace,  and  in  what  relative  proportions?  At  what 
grade  of  advancement  should  the  course  begin,  and  to 
what  extent  should  it  be  carried  ? 

The  question  was  embarrassed  by  several  difficulties. 
In  the  first  place,  the  only  standard  of  measurement  af 
forded  them  by  the  Founder's  words  had  become  itself 
unsettled.  What  was  the  proper  function  of  the  col 
lege  for  young  men  was  in  dispute.  The  champions  of  a 
"  new  education"  were  demanding  essential  changes  in 
the  orthodox  collegiate  system.  They  claimed  that  the 
vast  growth  and  importance  of  the  physical  sciences  en 
titled  these  to  a  larger  space  in  the  curriculum.  Some  of 
them  boldly  impugned  the  comparative  value  of  classi 
cal  training ;  and  all  urged  that  at  least  a  wider  scope 
should  be  given  to  individual  choice  in  the  selection  of 
studies.  Institutions  of  venerable  authority  were  rang 
ing  themselves  on  opposite  sides,  and  it  was  not  easy  to 
predict  the  result. 

Again,  supposing  the  conditions  of  a  liberal  education 
for  men  to  be  settled,  were  those  for  the  other  sex  to  be 
the  same  or  different  ?  and  if  different,  to  what  extent, 


17 

and  in,  what  particulars  ?  The  idea  of  a  full  scientific 
education  for  women  was  comparatively  novel.  Some 
sneered  ;  many  doubted ;  and  those  who  had  faith  could 
point  to  no  successful  experiments  to  justify  their  confi 
dence,  and  could  find  no  recognized  precedents  to  guide 
their  policy.  All  was  theory,  and  opinions  were  divided. 
There  were  those  who  believed  that  the  physical  organ 
ization  and  functions  of  woman  naturally  disqualify 
her  for  severe  study,  and  that  an  education  essentially 
popular,  and  largely  ornamental,  is  alone  suited  to  her 
sphere.  These  deprecated  all  such  movements  as  ignor 
ing  the  laws  of  God  and  nature,  and  striking  at  the 
foundations  of  the  physical  and  moral  welfare  of  the 
race.  Others,  on  the  ground  that  there  is  "  no  sex  in 
mind,"  demanded  for  women  precisely  the  same  educa 
tional  treatment  as  for  men — demanded,  indeed,  the  ad 
mission  of  young  women  to  the  existing  colleges,  and 
their  education  side  by  side  with  young  men,  as  the  true 
solution  of  the  problem.  Between  these  extremes,  a 
large  and  increasing  number  of  intelligent  educators  and 
thoughtful  parents  were  taking  middle  ground.  Recog 
nizing  the  possession  by  woman  of  the  same  intellectual 
constitution  as  man's,  they  claimed  for  her  an  equal  right 
to  intellectual  culture,  and  a  system  of  development  and 
discipline  based  on  the  same  fundamental  principles. 
They  denied  that  any  amount  of  intellectual  training,  if 
properly  conducted,  could  be  prejudicial,  in  either  sex, 
to  physical  health  or  to  the  moral  and  social  virtues. 
They  believed,  in  the  light  of  all  experience,  that  the 
larger  the  stock  of  knowledge  and  the  more  thorough 
the  mental  discipline  a  woman  actually  attains,  other 
2 


18 
» 

things  being  equal,  the  better  she  is  fitted  to  fill,  every 
womanly  position,  and  to  perform  every  womanly  duty, 
at  home  and  in  society.  At  the  same  time,  they  could 
not  but  see  that  there  are  specialties  in  the  feminine 
constitution,  and  in  the  functions  allotted  to  woman  in 
life  ;  and  they  believed  that  these  should  not  be  lost  sight 
of  in  arranging  the  details  of  her  education.  It  seemed 
obvious,  too,  that  young  women  away  from  home  should 
be  surrounded  with  more  effective  social  safeguards  ;  that 
special  sanitary  provisions  should  be  made  for  them ; 
and  that  they  should  be  furnished  with  ampler  means 
ersonal  and  domestic  comfort  than  are  usually 
thought  necessary  for  young  men.  They  could  not, 
therefore,  recognize  the  existing  colleges  as  fully  meeting 
the  case,  until  those  colleges  shall  be  prepared  to  assume 
the  whole  of  this  responsibility  by  providing  adequate 
personal  accommodations  and  by  enlarging  their  curricu 
lum  so  as  to  embrace  all  the  elements  of  feminine  as  well 
as  masculine  culture. 

The  Trustees  of  Vassar  College,  in  common  with  its 
Founder,  held  this  middle  ground ;  and  two  or  three 
starting-points  were  thus  determined  for  them. 

1.  A  complete  domestic  system  must  be  incorporated 
with  the  educational  in  the  organization  of  the  college. 
It  was  accordingly  decided  that  all  its  students  should 
be  members  of  the  college  family ;  that  they  should  live 
together  under  one  roof ;  that  the  security  and  comforts 
of  a  well-ordered  home  should  be  assured  them  ;  and  that 
the  sanitary  and  social  regulation  of  their  life,  as  well 
as  their  intellectual  training,  should  be  taken  under  the 
responsible  direction  of  the  college  authorities.  Hence 


19 

the  erection  of  the  large  and  costly  edifice,  with  its  suits 
of  furnished  private  apartments,  its  thoroughly  equipped 
kitchen  and  laundry,  the  extensive  apparatus  for  the 
supply  of  light,  heat,  and  water,  and  the  complicated 
arrangement  of  business  offices,  which  otherwise  might 
have  been  dispensed  with.  Hence,  too,  the  appointment 
of  a  lady  principal  and  a  resident  physician,  and  the 
important  functions  assigned  those  officers  in  the  inter 
nal  polity  of  the  college.  And  hence  a  complete  sys 
tem  of  house  regulations,  matured  by  the  Faculty,  and 
intended  to  harmonize  the  personal  with  the  student 
life  of  its  members.  In  this  feature  the  plan  of  Vassal- 
College  resembles  that  of  the  ladies'  seminary  or  board 
ing-school,  or  that  of  the  "  college "  or  "  hall  "  in  the 
English  university  (as  distinguished  from  the  univer 
sity  itself),  more  nearly  than  it  does  that  of  the  Ameri 
can  college  of  the  last  half-century. 

L'.  The  course  of  study  must  be  liberal,  not  elemen 
tary  ;  thorough  and  scientific,  not  popular  and  superfi 
cial.  In  this  respect  it  was  decided  that  Vassar  should 
resemble  the  American  college,  rather  than  the  semina 
ry,  academy,  or  high  school.  It  was  obvious,  on  a  very 
little  reflection,  that  the  moulders  of  this  institution 
were  not  so  much  concerned  with  the  points  which  sepa 
rated  the  old  colleges  from  one  another  as  with  those 
which  discriminated  them  in  common  from  the  secondary 
schools  in  our  American  system.  The  advocates  of  the 
new  education  were  striving  to  make  liberal  education 
more  liberal,  to  advance  the  college  in  breadth  and  alti 
tude  one  step  nearer  the  university.  The  question  here 
was  whether  woman  should  have  liberal  education  at 


20 

r 

all,  —  whether  the  course  of  study  to  be  established 
should  be  collegiate  in  any  proper  sense  of  the  word ; 
and  this  question  was  settled  in  the  affirmative.  It 
should  be  collegiate,  alike  in  the  grade  and  in  the  method 
of  its  instructions.  The  text-books  employed  should 
not  be  the  ordinary  school-compendiums,  but  works  of 
the  highest  authority  in  the  several  fields  of  knowledge. 
Not  only  the  results  of  scientific  and  literary  investiga 
tion  should  be  taught,  but  (as  far  as  possible)  the 
methods.  Mere  memoriter  recitations  should  be  dis 
carded  ;  and  the  student  should  be  not  merely  required 
to  "  learn  lessons,"  but  trained  to  discuss  subjects  and 
to  form  and  maintain  opinions.  This  implied  the  devot 
ing  of  some  years,  at  the  outset  of  the  course,  to  disci 
plinary  studies ;  and,  for  this  preparatory  discipline,  no 
substitute  was  found  for  the  time-honored  grammatical 
and  mathematical  drill  on  which  the  successful  schools 
of  liberal  culture  throughout  Christendom  have  always 
relied,  and  still  unanimously  rely,  as  the  indispensable 
foundation.  This,  in  the  judgment  of  the  Trustees,  was 
the  step  "in  advance"  to  which  the  Founder  had  origi 
nally  pledged  them.  In  no  other  way  could  the  expen 
sive  professorships,  the  scientific  collections  and  other 
costly  apparatus  of  instruction  which  he  had  furnished, 
be  utilized,  or  the  pecuniary  provisions  made  for  their 
continuance  and  enlargement  be  justified.  Their  efforts, 
therefore,  have  had  this  as  a  uniform  and  leading  aim, 
to  make  Vassar  College  a  COLLEGE,  not  in  name  only, 
but  in  fact, — a  college  in  the  grade  and  in  the  style  of 
its  instruction. 

,3.  But,  finally,  the  plan  should  not  be  a  servile  copy 


21 

of  existing  models.  If  the  old  college  system  could  be 
modified  in  any  respect,  either  by  addition  or  subtrac 
tion,  so  as  to  secure  a  more  perfect  adaptation  to  the  wants 

of  woman,  the  change  was  to  be  made  without  hesitation. 

/  o 

Whatever  might  be  added  to  former  ideals  of  womanly 
culture  on  the  score  of  breadth  and  thoroughness,  there 
must  be  no  lowering  of  the  standard  of  womanly  refine 
ment  and  grace.  The  claims  of  aesthetic  culture  were 
therefore  at  once  recognized  ;  the  provisions  made  for  in 
struction  in  the  arts  of  design  and  in  music  must  be 
ample,  and  adequate  time  be  allowed  for  this  culture  in 
the  regular  curriculum. 

So  far  all  was  plain ;  but  it  was  not  so  clear  whether 
any  further  changes  were  required  on  account  of  the  sex 
of  the  students.  Some  thought  there  should  be  relative 
ly  less  of  mathematics  and  more  of  languages,  less  of  sci 
ence  and  more  of  literature.  Some,  that  the  classical  or 
"dead"  languages  should  be  replaced  by  modern 
tongues ;  and  others,  that  the  study  of  the  vernacular,  and 
the  arts  of  composition,  should  occupy  a  much  larger  share 
of  the  student's  attention  in  a  woman's  college  than  in  a 
man's.  The  old  controversy  as  to  the  comparative  claim 
of  practical  studies  in  a  course  of  liberal  culture  came  in  ; 
and  the  old  difficulty  was  found,  of  determining  what  stu 
dies  are  practical  and  what  not. 

There  was  another  point  about  which  opinions  dif 
fered,  namely,  whether  the  course  of  study  should  be  pre 
scribed  or  optional.  In  June,  1&63,  while  the  college 
edifice  was  building,  a  committee  of  the  board  reported  a 
plan  of  organization,  recommending  the  adoption  of  what 
was  called  the  University  System,  "  an  arrangement  sug- 


22 

gested  by  the  system  which  prevails  in  European  uni 
versities/'  and  which  was  thus  described :  "  Similar  or 
collateral  branches  are  combined  into  distinct  depart 
ments  or  schools,  which  are  practically  independent  of 
one  another.  Thus,  we  have  the  school  of  mathematics, 
the  school  of  languages,  the  school  of  natural  history, 
etc.,  each  having  its  appropriate  course  of  study.  TJie 
student  selects  whichever  of  these  schools  or  studies  his 
talents,  tastes,  inclinations,  pecuniary  circumstances,  or 
objects  in  life  may  lead  him  to  prefer  •  and  when  he  has 
mastered  the  studies  of  a  school,  he  receives  a  testimonial 
certifying  to  that  effect.  Each  school  confers  a  distinct 
testimonial.  When  the  student  has  gained  testimonials 
in  a  specified  number  of  schools,  he  is  entitled  to  a  diplo 
ma  as  a  graduate  of  the  university."  This  plan,  though 
recommended  by  some  theoretical  advantages,  other 
members  of  the  Board  thought  not  to  be  suited  to  the 
actual  exigencies  of  the  situation.  It  was  believed  that 
at  the  point  indicated  above  by  italics  it  would  prove 
to  be  fatally  defective  ;  that  the  average  student,  or  her 
friends,  would  not  make  such  a  selection  or  arrangement 
of  studies  as  would  attain  the  ends  of  a  liberal  education ; 
and  that  in  leaving  so  essential  a  matter  wholly  at  the 
disposal  of  its  students  a  college  would  be  shirking  its 
proper  responsibility.  The  question  was  left  at  that 
time  undecided. 

To  these  theoretical  difficulties  a  more  peremptory 
practical  one  was  added, — the  necessity  of  taking  into 
account  the  opinion  of  the  public  at  large.  There  could 
be  no  college  of  any  kind  without  students  ;  and  in  this 
case,  since  there  were  no  endowments  for  the  support  of 


23 

instruction,  they  must  be  paying  students.  In  this  re 
spect,  it  may  safely  be  said,  the  enterprise  has  had  to 
endure  a  test  to  which  no  school  of  liberal  education  was 
ever  before  subjected,  and  which  has  not  always  been 
borne  in  mind  by  those  who  have  criticised  its  manage 
ment  from  a  purely  theoretical  point  of  view.  The  great 
building  must  be  filled  at  once  with  students,  and  kept 
full  to  the  number  of  nearly  four  hundred,  at  full  rates 
of  charge,  or  the  enterprise  would  be  crippled  at  the 
start.  Whatever  theories  might  require,  it  was  idle  to 
adopt  any  scheme  which  would  not  attract  a  liberal  pa 
tronage  from  the  well-to-do  classes  of  the  community. 

The  best  thing  to  be  done  was,  manifestly,  to  begin 
with  a  pro  visional  plan,  allowing  opportunity  for  the  pub 
lic  sentiment  to  declare  itself,  and  taking  time  to  mature 
the  permanent  course  in  the  light  of  experience.  Such  a 
plan  was  outlined,  and  published  as  a  "  prospectus"  in  the 
spring  of  1865.  It  offered  instruction  in  all  the  branches 
of  a  collegiate  course,  but  prescribed  no  uniform  ar 
rangement  of  them,  committing  the  selection  of  studies  in 
each  case  individually  to  the  direction  of  the  president  and 
faculty.  The  only  prerequisites  to  admission  were,  that 
the  candidate  should  be  over  fifteen  years  of  age,  and 
should  be  prepared  for  examination  in  arithmetic,  English 
grammar,  modern  geography,  and  American  history. 
The  prospectus  exhibited  the  titles  of  studies  to  be 
taught  in  the  college,  grouped  together  loosely  in  ten  de 
partments  of  instruction.  But  it  was  added :  "  This 
scheme  must  be  regarded  as  merely  tentative.  The 
board  reserves  its  final  decision  on  the  distribution  of 
studies  until  experience  has  developed  the  wants  of  the 


24 

community,  and  the  whole  subject  has  been  maturely 
canvassed  by  the  Faculty." 

In  September,  1865,  the  institution  was  opened  for  the 
reception  of  students.  A  large  number,  between  the 
ages  of  fifteen  and  twenty -four,  from  all  parts  of  the 
Union  and  from  Canada,  applied  for  examination,  and 
about  three  hundred  and  fifty  were  accepted.  A  respec 
table  minority  of  these,  say  one  fourth,  or  one  third,  had 
been  well  taught, — a  few  admirably.  But  of  the  great 
majority  it  could  not  be  said  with  truth  that  they  were 
thoroughly  grounded  in  any  thing. 

In  the  ordinary  English  branches,  had  the  same  tests 
been  applied  then  that  are  applied  now  with  unvarying 
strictness  at  every  entrance  examination,  one  half  the 
candidates  would  have  been  refused.  In  these  branches  t 
the  advantage  was  notably  with  those  who  had  been 
taught  in  the  graded  public  schools  of  the  country,  par 
ticularly  of  the  larger  towns  and  cities ;  and  none  ap 
peared  to  less  advantage,  as  a  general  fact,  than  those  on 
whom  the  greatest  expense  had  been  lavished  in  gover 
nesses  and  special  forms  of  home  or  foreign  education. 

In  the  more  advanced  studies,  the  examinations  re 
vealed  a  prevailing  want  of  method  and  order,  and  much 
of  that  superficiality  which  must  necessarily  result  from 
taking  up  such  studies  without  disciplinary  preparation. 
Such  preparation  seemed  not  to  have  been  wholly  neg 
lected  ;  but  in  a  majority  of  cases  it  had  been  quite  in 
sufficient,  and  often  little  better  than  nominal.  Most  of 
the  older  students,  for  instance,  had  professedly  studied 
Latin,  and  either  algebra  or  geometry,  or  both.  But 


25 

the  Latin  had  usually  been  "finished  "  with  reading  very 
imperfectly  a  little  Caesar  and  Virgil ;  and  the  algebra 
and  geometry,  though  perhaps  in  general  better  taught, 
had  not  infrequently  been  studied  in  easy  abridgments, 
of  little  or  no  value  for  the  purposes  of  higher  scientific 
education. 

This  part  of  the  accepted  training  of  young  ladies, 
even  in  many  respectable  seminaries,  has  seemed,  under 
the  application  of  tests  by  no  means  severe,  almost  like 
a  deception  practiced  on  the  pupils  and  their  parents  ; 
of  which,  however,  the  teachers  are  not  so  much  the  vol 
untary  agents  as  the  enforced  and  helpless  instruments,— 
helpless  because,  being  without  the  support  of  endow 
ments,  precedents,  or  an  enlightened  public  sentiment, 
they  are  at  the  mercy  of  their  patrons,  and  their  patrons 
too  often  prefer  to  be  deceived.  As  the  great  majority 
of  the  pupils  do  not,  on  leaving  school,  proceed  to  any 
intellectual  pursuit  which  would  test  the  quality  of  their 
training,  the  deception  passes  undetected.  Those  whom 
necessity  compels  to  teach,  or  to  win  their  bread  by  some 
literary  or  scientific  profession,  are  the  sufferers ;  and  the 
intellectual  reputation  of  the  sex  suffers  most  unjustly 
from  an  incompetency  which  is  the  inevitable  result  of 
the  wretched  sham  that  has  been  palmed  upon  them  un 
der  the  name  of  education. 

One  thing  was  made  clear  by  these  preliminary  ex 
aminations  :  that,  if  the  condition  of  the  higher  female 
education  in  the  United  States  was  fairly  represented  by 
this  company  of  young  women,  with  a  great  deal  that 
was  elevated  in  aim  and  earnest  in  intention,  it  was 


26 

characterized  by  much  confusion,  much  waste  of  power, 
and  much  barrenness  of  result,  and  admitted  of  es 
sential  improvement. 

An  inquiry  into  their  plans  for  future  study  revealed 
as  clearly  their  need  of  authoritative  guidance  and  di 
rection.  There  was  no  lack  of  zeal  for  improvement. 
Almost  all  had  been  drawn  to  the  college  by  the  hope 
of  obtaining  a  higher  and  completer  education  than 
would  be  afforded  them  elsewhere.  Indeed,  the  earnest 
ness  of  purpose,  assiduity  of  application,  and  intelligence 
to  appreciate  good  counsel,  which  have,  from  the  begin 
ning,  characterized  the  students  as  a  body,  are  a  notice 
able  and  encouraging  fact.  But  their  reliance  at  first  was 
largely  on  the  adventitious  advantages  which  the  college 
was  supposed  to  possess  for  putting  them  in  possession  of 
their  favorite  branches  of  knowledge  and  culture.  Of  the 
real  elements  and  processes  of  a  higher  education,  and  of 
the  subjective  conditions  of  mental  growth  and  training, 
comparatively  few,  either  of  the  students  or  their  parents, 
appeared  to  have  any  definite  idea.  There  was  no  lack 
of  definiteness  of  choice.  Tastes  and  inclinations  were 
usually  positive ;  reasons  were  not  so  plentiful.  That 
the  young  lady  "  liked  "  this  study  or  "  disliked  "  that, 
was  the  reason  perhaps  most  frequently  "assigned.  If  its 
force  was  not  at  once  conceded,  she  strengthened  it  by 
increased  emphasis,  declaring  that  she  was  "  passionately 
fond  "  of  the  one  and  "  utterly  detested  "  or  "  never  could 
endure"  the  other.  Practical  studies  were  greatly  in 
vogue,  especially  with  parents  ;  "  practical "  meaning 
such  as  had  an  immediate  relation,  real  or  fancied,  to 


27 

some  utility  of  actual  life,  such,  for  example,  as  that  of 
chemistry  to  cooking,  or  of  French  to  a  tour  in  Europe. 
Appropriateness  for  the  discipline  of  the  faculties,  or  the 
equipment  of  the  mind  for  scientific  or  philosophical  in 
vestigation,  might  not  be  appreciated  as  practical  consid 
erations  at  all. 

The  deepest  impression  made  by  these  preliminary  ex 
aminations  on  those  who  conducted  them  was  this,  that 
the  grand  desideratum  for  the  higher  education  of  wo 
men  was  regulation,  authoritative  and  peremptory. 
Granting  that  the  college  system  for  young  men,  coming 
down  from  an  age  of  narrow  prescription  and  rigid  uni 
formity,  needed  expansion,  relaxation,  a  wider  variety  of 
studies  and  freer  scope  for  individual  choice,  there  was 
evidently  no  such  call  in  a  college  for  women.  In  the 
field  of  "female  education"  without  endowments,  with 
out  universities  or  other  institutions  of  recognized  au 
thority,  without  a  history  or  even  a  generally  accepted 
theory,  there  was  really  no  established  system  at  all ;  and 
a  system  was,  of  all  things,  the  thing  most  urgently  de 
manded.  That  it  should  be  a  perfect  system  was  less 
important  than  that  it  should  be  definite  and  fixed, 
based  upon  intelligent  and  well-considered  principles, 
and  adhered  to  irrespective  of  the  taste  and  fancies  and 
crude  speculations  of  the  students  or  their  friends. 
The  young  women  who,  all  over  the  land,  were  urging 
so  importunate  a  claim  for  thorough  intellectual  culture 
should  first  of  all  be  taught  what  are  the  unalterable 
conditions  of  a  thorough  culture,  alike  for  women  and 
for  men,  and  should  be  held  to  those  conditions,  just  as 


28 

young  men  are  held,  whether  they  "  liked  "  the  discipline 
or  not.  The  rising  interest  in  the  subject  of  woman's 
education,  which  so  signally  marked  the  recent  progress 
of  public  sentiment,  required  a  channel  through  which  it 
might  be  directed  to  positive  results.  If  Vassar  College 
had  a  mission,  was  it  not,  clearly,  to  contribute  some 
thing  to  that  consummation  ?  To  adopt  the  "  Univer 
sity  System,"  or  any  other  based  on  the  purely  optional 
principle,  was  manifestly  to  throw  away  the  opportunity, 
and  to  use  whatever  of  power  and  influence  the  college 
might  have  derived  from  the  munificence  of  its  founder 
to  perpetuate  the  deplorable  state  of  things  which  it  had 
been  his  chief  desire  to  assist  in  changing. 

To  the  task,  therefore,  of  reducing  to  order  the  hetero 
geneous  medley  before  them,  the  Faculty  set  themselves 
with  all  earnestness.  Many  have  wondered  why  there 
should  have  been  any  delay  in  doing  this, — why  a  col 
legiate  course  was  not  at  once  marked  out  and  the  stu 
dents  forthwith  formed  into  corresponding  classes.  The 
reason  will  appear  on  a  moment's  reflection.  It  is  easy 
to  build  a  college  on  paper.  To  produce  the  real  thing 
requires  a  variety  of  material,  prepared  and  shaped  for 
the  purpose.  There  must  not  only  be  buildings  and  ap 
paratus,  books  and  learned  professors,  but  there  must  be 
students, — students  who  have  passed  through  a  prepara 
tory  process  which  requires  not  only  time,  but  certain 
moulding  influences  of  a  very  definite  character;  and  it 
will  not  be  found  easy — at  least,  it  was  not  found  easy 
eight  years  ago — to  get  together  four  hundred  young  wo 
men,  or  one  fourth  of  that  number,  so  prepared.  It  was 


29 

one  of  the  great  difficulties  in  the  way  of  establishing  a 
true  Woman's  College,  that  there  was  an  entire  lack  of 
organized  preparatory  schools  to  furnish  it  with  students 
properly  grounded  in  the  disciplinary  branches,  and  that 
the  schools  which  could  do  this  work  were  to  so  great  an 
extent  committed — not  only  by  their  prospectuses,  but 
by  their  interests — -to  methods  which  tend  rather  to  un- 
fit  the  student  for  commencing  a  college  course.* 

One  fact,  however,  the  Faculty  discovered,  which 
went  far  to  counterbalance  all  their  discouragements.  It 
was  this :  The  most  mature,  thoughtful,  and  influential 
of  the  students  perfectly  apprehended  the  situation, 
knew  what  they  needed,  and  earnestly  sought  it.  They 
were  really  in  advance  of  the  men  of  years  and  experi 
ence  with  whom  the  decision  rested.  With  the  quick 
insight  of  intelligent  women — or,  rather,  with  that  exact 
discernment  wherewith  the  sufferer  of  an  evil  takes  its 
measure,  fixes  its  locality,  and  presages  its  remedy — they 
had  worked  out  the  solution  of  the  problem ;  and  they 
watched  with  the  deepest  solicitude  the  settlement  of  the 
question,  what  the  institution  was  to  be.  Modestly,  but 
firmly,  earnestly,  and  intelligently,  they  pleaded  for  the 
adoption  of  the  highest  educational  standard,  avowed 
their  readiness  to  submit  for  themselves  to  the  most 


*  Ten  years  have  wrought  an  observable  chancre  in  this  respect.  A  num 
ber  of  first-class  ladies'  seminaries  now  advertise  special  classes  to  prepare  for 
Vassar  ;  and  the  growing  interest  in  the  public  mind  in  favor  of  affording  col 
legiate  advantages  to  women  is  producing  its  natural  effect  in  the  academies 
and  public  high-schools,  both  in  New  England  and  the  West.  The  probability 
now  is,  that  the  supply  of  the  prepared  material  will  be  in  advance  of  the  op 
portunities  to  turn  it  to  account. 


30 

rigid  conditions,  and  exerted  a  powerful  influence  to  dif 
fuse  right  views  among  the  more  intelligent  of  their  fel 
low-students.  It  soon  became  evident  that  here  was  the 
vital  nucleus  for  the  future  college;  and  around  that 
nucleus  the  elements  gathered  with  decisive  rapidity. 
Before  the  close  of  the  year,  the  Faculty  found  them 
selves  supported  in  their  desire  for  a  full  and  strict  col 
legiate  course  by  a  strong  current  of  sentiment  among 
the  students  themselves.  The  brains  of  the  institution 
were  enlisted  on  that  side ;  and  it  was  manifest  that 
henceforth  the  best  class  of  students  would  be  satisfied 
with  nothing  less.  The  controversy  was  at  an  end. 
What  remained  was,  to  make  the  idea  a  reality. 

As  it  was  necessary  at  the  beginning  of  each  annual 
session  to  arrange  the  classes  substantially  for  the  en 
tire  year,  the  development  of  the  organization  proceeded 
necessarily  by  annual  steps.  For  the  first  year,  no  at 
tempt  was  made  to  grade  the  students  by  any  common 
standard.  It  would  hardly  have  been  possible  to  do  so, 
so  dissimilar  had  their  previous  plans  of  study  been.  Their 
individual  wants  were,  therefore,  considered  only ;  and 
they  were  classified  in  the  several  departments  of  in 
struction  separately.  A  great  deal  of  earnest  and  profi 
table  studying  was  done ;  and  much  progress  was  made 
in  the  development  of  educational  intelligence,  and  in 
habits  of  steady  movement  under  a  decided  discipline. 

Toward  the  close  of  the  second  year,  the  first  attempt 
was  made  to  arrange  a  portion  of  the  students  (about 
one  third  of  the  whole)  in  college  classes ;  and  the  re 
sult  was  as  follows : 


31 

Whole  number  of  collegiate  students,          .  352 

Of  senior  grade,     .         .         .         .         .         .4 

Of  junior  grade,         .         .         .         .         .18 

Intermediate  between  junior  and  sophomore,  .    9 
Of  sophomore  grade,      .         .         .         .  27 

Intermediate  between  sophomore  and  fresh 
man,       .         .         .         .         .         .         .13 

Of  freshman  grade,         .....  45 — 116 

Of  the  remainder,  71  were  pursuing  the  regular  prepara 
tory  course,  and  165  were  pursuing  irregular  courses. 

But  it  was  not  until  the  close  of  its  third  year  that 
the  institution  fully  attained  a  collegiate  character. 
During  these  three  years  the  Faculty  had  been  carefully 
studying  the  conditions  of  the  problem  before  them,  ascer 
taining,  through  an  extensive  intercourse  with  students, 
parents,  intelligent  educators,  and  through  other  chan 
nels  of  information,  the  nature  of  the  public  demand, 
and  gradually  maturing  a  permanent  course  of  study  to 
meet  as  far  as  practicable  its  conflicting  elements.  At 
the  opening  of  the  fourth  collegiate  year  (1868-69)  this 
course  definitively  replaced  the  provisional  one  adopted 
at  the  outset,  and,  with  occasional  modifications  of  de 
tail,  has  remained  in  operation  since.  When  the  changes 
since  made  have  in  any  way  affected  the  standard  of 
education,  it  has  invariably  been  in  the  direction  of  its 
further  elevation.  Without  dwelling  upon  these,  it  will 
suffice  to  exhibit  the  scheme  of  instruction  as  it  is  now 
in  actual  operation. 


PRESENT  SCHEME   OF  INSTRUCTION. 

CLASSES    OF    STUDENTS. 

There  are  three  different  classes  of  students : 

1.  Regular  Collegiates,  or  members  of  the  four  college 
classes,  namely,  the  Senior,  Junior,  Sophomore,  and  Fresh 
man.    These  constitute  the  college  proper.     None  are  ad 
mitted  conditionally  to  any  regular  class.     In  order  to 
membership  in  either,  a  student  must  have  passed  ex 
amination  in  all  the  required  studies,  though  she  may 
recite  with  the  class  in  any  branch  for  which  she  is  pre 
pared  while  bringing  up  deficiencies. 

2.  Specials,  or  Irregular   Collegiates :  those  who  are 
pursuing,  in  the  college  classes,  eclectic  courses  arranged 
for  them  individually.     The  privilege  is  allowed  only 
within  clearly  defined  limits.     It  is  denied  to  young  per 
sons  in  the  regular  process  of  their  education,  and  grant 
ed  only  to  those  who  have  already  attained  some  matu 
rity  and  are  sufficiently  advanced  to  study  to  advantage 
in  college  classes.     They  must  be  over  nineteen  years  of 
age,  and  must  pass  examination  in  at  least  two  thirds  of 
all  the  preparatory  and  all  the  freshman  studies.      The 
class  of  students  to  whom  an  eclectic  course  is  really  ap 
propriate,  and  who  are  qualified   to  pursue  it  without 
hindering  the  progress  of  others,  are  most  welcome  to 
the  college.     They  are  among  its  most  successful  students 
in  particular  lines ;  and  its  regular  classes  have  been 
largely  recruited  from  their  ranks.     For  all  others  the 
practice  of  unsystematic  and  promiscuous  study  is  rigor 
ously  discountenanced. 


33 

3.  Heguldr  Preparatories:  those  wlio  are  pursuing 
studies  preparatory  to  the  freshman  class.  Students  of 
this  kind  are  received  only  so  long  as  the  accommoda 
tions  are  not  all  required  for  the  two  former.  Such  only 
are  admitted  as  are  over  fifteen  years  of  age  and  have 
passed  satisfactory  examinations  in  English  Grammar, 
Arithmetic,  Geography,  and  United  States  History. 

DISTRIBUTION    OF    STUDIES. 

There  are  nine  departments  of  instruction,  each  under 
the  responsible  direction  of  a  professor,  who  is  assisted 
by  as  many  teachers  as  the  number  of  classes  may  require. 

I.  The  Department  of  the  English  Language  and  Lit 
erature  includes  Rhetoric,  Logic,  History  of  English 
Literature,  English  Composition,  and  Elocution.  The 
time  allowed  is  as  follows : 

Elementary   Rhetoric,    one    semester, 

(preparatory,)      ....      5  times  a  week. 

Grammatical  Analysis,  one    semester, 

(Freshman,)     ....          twice     a     week. 

History  of  English  Literature,  one  se 
mester,  (Sophomore,)  .  .5  times  a  week. 

English    Etymology    and    Synonyms, 

one  semester,  (Sophomore,)      .          twice     a     week. 

Rhetoric,  one  semester,  (Junior,)     .     5   times  a  week. 

Logic,  one  semester,  (Junior,)      .          5  times  a  wreek. 

Elocution,    three    semesters,     (Fresh 
man,  Sophomore,  Senior,)     .         .      5  times  a  week. 

Composition,  exercises  extending  through  the  course. 
The  instruction  is  given  by  the  professor  and  four 

teachers. 


UNIVERSITY 


34 

II.  The   Department  of  Ancient  and  Modern  Lan 
guages  includes  Latin  and  Greek,  French  and  German  ; 
Ancient,  Mediaeval,  and  Modern  History, 

Latin,  eleven  semesters,   (five  prepara 
tory  and  six  collegiate,)      .  .  5  times  a  week. 
French,  seven  semesters,  (two  prepara 
tory  and  five  collegiate,)   .      ...      5  times  a  week. 

Greek    and  German,  each  five   semes 
ters,  (Sophomore,  Junior,  and  Senior,)  5  times  a  week. 
Ancient   History,    one    semester,   (pre 
paratory,)         .         .         .  .     5  times  a  week. 

Ancient  History,  one  semester,  (Soph 
omore,)         .....  once  a  week. 

Mediaeval  History,  one  semester,  (Soph 
omore,)    .....  once    a  week. 

Modern   History,   one    semester,     (Ju 
nior,)  ......  once   a  week. 

Instruction  in  Latin,  Greek,  and  History,  by  the  pro 
fessor  and  four  teachers ;  in  German  by  one  native  in 
structor,  and  in  French  by  two. 

III.  The  Department  of  Mathematics  and  Physics  in 
cludes  Algebra,  Geometry,  Trigonometry,  General  Ge 
ometry   and   Calculus;    and   Natural   Philosophy   and 
Chemistry. 

Pure  Mathematics,  five  semesters,  (one 

preparatory  and  four  collegiate,)  .       .  5  times  a  week. 

Natural  Philosophy,  two  semesters,  (Ju 
nior,)   .....  .5  times  a  week. 

Chemistry,    two     semesters,     (Senior,) 

one  5,  and  one  3  times  a  week. 
Instruction  by  the  professor  and  three  teachers. 


35 

IV.  To  the  Department  of  Astronomy  are  assigned 
three  Semesters,  (two  Junior  and  one  Senior,)  5  times  a 
week.     Instruction  by  the  professor,  who  is  also  Director 
of  the  Observatory. 

V.  The   Department   of  Natural  History  includes 
Physical  Geography,  Botany,  Zoology,  Mineralogy,  and 
Geology. 

Physical  Geography,  one  semester,  (pre 
paratory,)      .....      5  times  a  week. 

Botany,  one  semester,  (preparatory,)   .    5  times  a  week. 

Zoology,  one  and  a  half  semesters,  (Soph 
omore  and  Junior,)     .         .         .         .5  times  a  week. 

Mineralogy,     one    half -semester,      (Ju 
nior,)      ......      5  times  a  week. 

Geology,  one  semester,  (Junior,)     .        .  5  times  a  week. 
Instruction  by  the  professor  and  one  teacher. 

VI.  To  the  Department  of  Physiology  and  Hygiene 
are  assigned  one  semester  in  the  Freshman  year,  twice  a 
week,  and  one  semester  in  the  Senior  year,  5  times  a 
week.     Instruction  by  the  professor,   who   is  also  the 
Resident  Physician,  general  health-officer,  and  lecturer  on 
Practical  Hygiene  in  the  college  family. 

VII.  The  Department  of  Philosophy  includes  Intel 
lectual  and  Moral  Philosophy. 

Intellectual   Philosophy,    one    semester, 

(Senior,)     .         .         .         .         .         .5  times  a  week. 

Moral    Philosophy,   one   semester,     (Se 
nior,)     ......       5  times  a  week. 

Instruction  by  the  professor,  who  is  also  President  of 

the  College. 


36 

VIII.  The  Department  of  Design  includes  Drawing, 
Painting,  and  Modeling.    Except  weekly  class  lessons  in 
Elementary  Drawing  and  Perspective  through  two  se 
mesters,  (preparatory,)  the  lessons  in  this  Department 
are  given  to  individual  pupils,  three  times  a  week,  and 
continued  at  their  option.     Instruction  all  given  by  the 
Professor. 

IX.  The  Department  of  Music  includes  Piano-forte 
and  Organ  playing,  Singing  (Solo  and  Choral),  and  Mu 
sical  Theory.    The  instruction  on  the  Piano-forte  and  Or 
gan,  and  in  Solo  singing,  is  given  to  individual  pupils,  two 
lessons  a  week ;  in  Choral  singing  and  Musical  Theory,  to 
classes,  one  lesson  a  week.     The  professor  is  assisted  by 
seven  teachers  of  the  piano-forte,  one  of  the  organ,  and 
two  of  solo  singing. 

The  first  seven  departments  are  called  "collegiate," 
embracing  all  the  studies  prerequisite  to  a  Degree  in 
Arts.  The  last  two  are  called  "  extra-collegiate  [or  art 
departments,"  and  it  is  optional  with  each  student  (the 
Faculty  approving)  whether  she  will  enter  either. 

REQUIRED  AND  ELECTIVE   STUDIES. 

No  student  is  allowed  to  take,  at  any  one  time,  more 
than  three  full  studies,  (unless  they  are  reviews,)  with 
one  art  study.  It  is  therefore  impossible  for  any,  within 
the  prescribed  four  years,  to  pursue  all  the  branches 
taught  Hence  a  distinction  between  studies  required  of 
all  and  those  among  which  students  are  allowed  a  limit 
ed  election. 

AIL  the  preparatory  studies,  and  all  those  of  the  fresh- 


37 

man  year,  and  of  the  first  semester  of  the  sophomore 
year,  are  required,  and  the  course  is  consequently  thus 
far  uniform  for  all  regular  students.  It  embraces  eight 

o  o 

semesters  of  Latin,  four  of  either  French,  German,  or 
Greek,  four  of  Mathematics,  two  of  Natural  History,  and 
two  of  Rhetoric  and  English  Literature. 

After  the  middle  of  the  sophomore  year,  the  studies 
are  elective,  within  the  limits  of  each  semester,  as  laid 
down  in  the  coarse.  The  students  are  presumed  by  this 
time  to  have  laid  a  good  disciplinary  foundation,  and  to 
be  able  to  make  an  intelligent  choice,  with  reference  to 
their  special  tastes,  aptitudes,  and  objects  in  life.  In 
every  case,  however,  the  students'  elections  for  each 
semester  are  made  the  subject  of  particular  consideration 
by  the  Faculty,  whose  approval  is  necessary  to  give 
them  effect. 

DEGREES. 

To  obtain  the  first  degree  in  arts,  (A.B.,)  the  candi 
date  must  have  passed  examination  in  all  the  required 
studies,  and  in  a  sufficient  number  of  approved  elective 
studies  to  make  the  complement  of  three  for  each  semester 
of  the  curriculum. 

Candidates  for  the  second  degree  (A.M.)  must  pass 
examination  in  studies  which  have  been  approved  by  the 
Faculty  as  equivalent  to  a  post-graduate  course  of  two 
full  years,  and  must  present  an  accepted  dissertation  on 
some  topic  connected  therewith. 


OF  • 

CALIFORNIA. 


38 


AIMS  AND  METHODS   OF  INSTRUCTION. 

The  aims  and  methods  of  instruction  in  the  several 
departments  are,  of  course,  essentially  similar  to  those 
of  any  well-organized  college.  They  will  be  exhibited, 
however,  somewhat  fully,  because  the  doubt  has  been  ex 
pressed  in  influential  quarters,  whether  in  this  "  Woman's 
College"  a  collegiate  standard  could  be  maintained,  and 
because  it  is  right  that  the  public  should  understand 
precisely  what  measure  of  success  has  thus  far  attended 
the  effort. 

The  limits  of  time  prescribed  to  the  several  depart 
ments  necessitate  in  each  a  selection  of  specific  objects. 
The  general  plan  is,  to  combine  an  outline  of  the  entire 
field  or  branch  of  inquiry  with  a  scientific  investigation 
of  so  much  of  it  as  there  is  time  to  study  thoroughly.  The 
aim  is  invariably  understood  to  be,  not  simply  to  charge 
the  memory  with  facts,  but  to  teach  the  methods  and 
cultivate  a  habit  of  independent  research,  training  the 
faculties  to  do  in  each  department  its  appropriate  work 
without  a  mentor. 

ENGLISH    LANGUAGE    AND    LITERATURE. 

The  course  in  this  department  aims : 

a.  To  teach,  theoretically,  the  laws  of  thought  (logic), 
of  expression  (rJwtoric),  and  of  utterance  (elocution)  ; 

b.  To  train  the  student,  practically,  to  a  good  style  of 
writing,  speaking,  and  reading  English  (essays,  readings, 
and  recitations)  ; 

c.  To  drill  her  in  specialties  of  the  English  word  and 
sentence  (etymology,  synonyms,  analysis  of  sentences)  ; 

d.  To  introduce  her  to  English  literature. 


39 

Before  entering  the  freshman  class,  she  must  be  well 
grounded  in  some  good  school-grammar,  and  must  under 
stand,  theoretically,  the  rules  for  constructing  sentences, 
the  principles  of  punctuation,  the  definitions  of  rhetorical 
figures  and  terminology  of  literary  criticism,  and  the 
general  laws  of  style,  as  taught  in  manuals  of  elementary 
rhetoric. 

In  the  freshman  year,  she  is  exercised  in  the  practical 
application  of  this  knowledge.  Every  five  weeks  she 
must  present  for  criticism  an  essay  upon  a  prescribed 
theme,  and,  with  the  help  of  a  teacher,  studies  the  prin 
ciples  of  rhetoric  as  illustrated  by  the  excellences  or 
defects  of  her  own  literary  work.  The  specific  aim,  at 
this  stage,  is  to  call  forth  her  natural  style  of  thought 
and  expression.  Models  are  not  used,  and  every  form  of 
imitative  writing  is  discouraged.  The  criticisms  are 
minute,  personal,  and  free,  being  made  in  private  inter 
views  between  the  teacher  and  the  individual  student. 
This  method  of  criticism  is  observed  throughout  the 
course.  During  the  latter  half  of  this  year,  she  is  drilled 
in  the  analysis  of  English  sentences. 

The  first  half  of  the  sophomore  year  is  occupied  with 
the  history  of  English  literature.  Here,  limitation  is  im 
peratively  necessary.  Twelve  writers  are  selected  who 
have  most  potently  influenced  English  thought  and  the 
English  lano-uao-e  since  the  beginning  of  the  sixteenth 

O  O          O  O  o 

century,  and  these  alone  are  studied.  The  study  involves, 
however,  a  general  view  of  the  progress  of  literary  de 
velopment  during  this  period.  From  the  lectures  of  the 
professor,  and  copious  references  to  the  college  library 
made  therein,  the  student  gathers  material  which  she  is 


40 

required,  after  reasonable  time  for  digesting  it,  to  put  into 
the  form  of  a  carefully  written  essay  on  the  writer  in  ques 
tion,  containing  her  own  estimate  of  the  man,  his  writings 
and  their  influence,  and  her  opinion  on  mooted  points.  By 
this  method  she  acquires  a  habit  of  studying  pen  in  hand, 
gains  much  historical  and  biographical  information,  and 
cultivates  alike  the  power  of  original  reflection  and 
facility  of  composition  on  literary  topics. 

During  the  latter  half  of  this  year,  the  periodical  writ 
ing  of  themes  is  renewed,  and  twice  a  week  there  is  a 
class  exercise  in  English  etymology  and  synonyms. 

In  the  junior  year,  the  attention  of  the  student  begins 
to  be  turned  to  methods  of  thinking.  The  studies  and 
exercises  aim  to  increase  her  power  of  directing  the  pro 
cesses  of  her  own  mind. 

Whately's  treatise  on  Argumentative  Composition  is 
first  made  the  subject  of  analysis,  not  more  for  the  value 
of  its  rhetorical  principles  than  as  an  admirable  logical 
praxis.  The  sequences  of  thought  are  carefully  exam 
ined,  and  the  book  is  criticised  in  the  light  of  its  own 
criticisms. 

In  the  second  semester,  the  theory  of  the  syllogism  is 
studied ;  and  the  study  is  folloAved  by  six  weeks  of  prac 
tice  in  applying  its  laws  to  an  extensive  selection  of 
arguments  from  eminent  writers  in  science,  philosophy, 
and  literature. 

Essay- writing  is  continued  through  this  and  through 
the  senior  year ;  and  the  criticisms  now  are  intended  to 
help  the  student  in  analyzing  her  own  habits  of  thought, 
to  show  her  the  indications  of  any  mental  idiosyncrasy 
that  may  need  correcting,  to  enable  her  to  understand 


41 

botli  her  strong  and  her  weak  points,  and  thus,  by  culti 
vating  the  points  of  intelligent  self-criticism,  to  provide 
for  her  continued  improvement. 

In  the  senior  year,  the  student  is  for  the  first  time 
called  on  to  read  her  productions  in  the  presence  of  her 
teachers  and  fellow-students. 

The  exercises  in  elocution  commence  in  the  sophomore 
year,  and  are  continued  through  half  of  that  and  of  the 
two  following  years.  The  series  comprises  the  study  and 
rendering  of  select  models,  together  with  much  vocal  and 
physical  drill,  intended  to  strengthen  the  organs  of 
speech,  and  to  give  flexibility  and  skill,  correctness, 
variety,  and  force  in  their  use. 

The  library  is  well  furnished  with  books  of  reference 
in  English  grammar  and  philology,  rhetoric,  criticism, 
and  literary  history ;  and  the  instructions  of  the  depart 
ment  are  so  conducted  as  to  accustom  the  students  to  use 
them  freely.  There  is  a  choice  collection  of  the  English 
classics  in  standard  editions,  especially  of  the  old  poets, 
and  complete  apparatus  for  the  study  of  Old  English 
and  Anglo-Saxon. 

ANCIENT    LANGUAGES. 

The  studies  in  the  classical  languages,  particularly  Lat 
in,  aim  primarily  at  formal  discipline,  that  is,  the  exercise 
and  development  of  the  faculties  as  a  basis,  or  formal  pre 
paration,  for  subsequent  special  studies.  At  the  same 
time,  they  afford  a  fruitful  'material  element  of  educa 
tion,  contained  in  the  sesthetical  and  historical  character 
of  the  Greek  and  Roman  literature ;  since  the  student, 
through  even  a  moderate  autoptic  acquaintance  with  the 


42 

Greek  and  Roman  authors,  acquires  a  deeper  insight  than 
any  history  or  mere  translations  can  give  into  the  life 
and  culture  of  the  two  nations  which  in  art,  science,  and 
literature  have  been  the  teachers  of  the  Christian  world, 
and  whose  influence  may  be  traced,  in  many  directions, 
still  powerfully  aifecting  the  institutions  and  tendencies 
of  modern  times. 

No  attempt  is  made  to  educate  the  students  in  the  de 
tails  of  the  special  science  of  philology. 

Select  portions  of  the  usual  standard  authors  are  taken 
for  study.  The  specific  objects  determining  the  selec 
tion,  and  the  whole  course  of  instruction,  are  the  follow 


ing  : 


a.  To  familiarize  the  student  with  the  Latin  and  Greek 
idioms ; 

b.  With  the  chief  stages  in  the  historical  development 
of  the  languages ; 

c.  With  the  laws  of  different  forms  of  poetical  and 
prose  composition ; 

d.  With  the  best  characteristics  of  literary  style ; 

e.  With  the  historical  periods  to  which  the  several 
works  belong ;  and 

f.  Witli  ancient  life  and  culture  as  illustrated  thereby. 

During  the  first  part  of  the  time  appropriated  to  an 
author,  he  is  read  very  slowly  and  critically;  but,  after 
the  students  have  become  sufficiently  acquainted  with 
the  peculiarities  of  his  manner,  the  scope  of  his  work,  and 
the  circumstances  of  its  production,  the  remainder  of  the 
time  is  devoted  to  more  rapid  and  cursory  reading. 

In  the  earlier  stages  of  the  course,  the  linguistic  or 

O  '  O 

grammatical  element  of  instruction  prevails ;  but  as  the 


43 

student  becomes  prepared  to  appreciate  them,  the  stylis 
tic,  the  aesthetical,  and  the  historical  elements  are  pro 
gressively  introduced.  For  grammatical  illustration, 
comparisons  are  constantly  made  with  the  French,  Ger 
man,  and  English  studied  in  the  college  course.  But 
these,  as  well  as  all  references  to  mythology,  history, 
and  antiquities,  to  points  of  prosody,  rhetoric,  poetics, 
etc.,  are  strictly  subordinated  to  the  purpose  of  illus 
trating  the  text  and  teaching  the  student  how  to  elicit 
therefrom  grammatical,  literary,  and  historical  facts  and 
principles. 

At  the  end  of  appropriate  periods,  synopses  of  the 
previous  reading  are  given  by  the  professor  in  conversa 
tional  lectures. 

Written  translations  from  Latin  or  Greek  into  Eng 
lish  form  a  regular  exercise  through  the  course ;  and  a 
moderate  amount  of  Latin  and  Greek  prose  composition 
is  introduced,  mainly  as  a  praxis  in  grammatical  forms 
and  rules. 

The  library  is  well  supplied  with  good  editions  of  the 
classical  authors  and  the  best  works  of  reference. 

The  following  is  the  order  of  the  course,  with  the 
amount  of  reading  actually  accomplished  last  year. 

LATIN. 

In  the  two  preparatory  years,  an  amount  of  work  is 
performed  equal  to  that  of  five  semesters  of  daily  recita 
tions,  three  in  the  first,  and  two  in  the  second. 

First  year. — Allen's  Grammar.  Caesar,  Books  I.-III. 
^Eneid,  Books  I.  and  II. 

Second  year. — Caesar,  Book  IV.     Cicero,  in  Catilinam 


44 

(I.-IV.),  pro  Archia  poeta,  and  pro  Marcello.  Virgil's 
Georgics,  Books  I.,  II,  and  six  Eclogues. 

After  admission  to  college,  the  student  is  required  to 
continue  Latin  through  three  additional  semesters,  two 
freshman,  and  one  sophomore.  The  work  accomplished 
last  year  was  as  follows  : 

Freshman,  first  semester. — Livy,  Book  XXL,  40  chap 
ters.  Allen's  Prose  Composition,  13  lessons,  with  Mad- 
vig's  Grammar. 

Freshman,  second  semester. — Horace,  40  odes,  3  satires, 
and  de  Arte  Poetica.  Grammar  continued. 

Sophomore,  first  semester. — Cicero  de  Oratore,  Book 
III.,  30  chapters.  Quintilian's  Institutes,  Book  X.,  4 
chapters. 

The  rest  of  the  Latin  course  is  elective.  It  embraces 
three  additional  semesters,  one  for  each  of  the  remaining 
years.  The  reading  for  the  year  was: 

Sophomore,  second  semester. — Juvenal,  Satires  III., 
X.,  XL,  XIV.  Plautus'  Captivi. 

Junior. — Tacitus'  Germania,  Agricola,  and  Annals, 
Book  I.,  25  chapters. 

Senior. — Cicero  de  Officiis. 

GREEK. 

The  study  of  Greek  is  entirely  optional ;  but,  if  a  stu 
dent  commences  it,  she  is  expected  (except  for  sufficient 
and  unforeseen  reasons,)  to  continue  and  complete  the 
course. 

The  Greek  course  commences  ostensibly  at  the  middle 
of  the  sophomore  year,  and  is  necessarily  limited  to  the 
live  remaining  semesters ;  but,  as  a  student  is,  by  a  spe- 


45 

cial  rule,  permitted  at  any  previous  point  in  the  curricu 
lum  to  discontinue -French  for  Greek  (entering  whatever 
class  she  may  be  ready  to  join),  many  in  that  way  are  able 
before  leaving  to  add  another  semester  to  the  course  ; 
which  they  are  allowed  to  do.  Great  advantage  is 
realized  in  the  study  of  Greek  (as  also  of  German)  from 
the  comparative  maturity  at  which  the  students  begin  it, 
and  from  the  thorough  grammatical  drill  they  have  pre 
viously  received  in  the  Latin. 

The  following  are  the  details  of  the  Avork  actually  per 
formed  : 

l-st  Semester. — Curtius's   Student's  Greek   Grammar, 
through  "  Etymology,"  with  exercises. 

2d    Semester. — Grammar,      completed.       Xenopliou, 
Books  I,  II. 

3d  Semester. — Homer,  selections  from  the  Iliad   and 
Odyssey,  amounting  to  three  books. 

4:tJt  Semester. — Herodotus,  Book  I.,  80  chapters.    Tliu- 
cydides,  Book  II.,  30  chapters. 

5th  Semester. — Demosthenes,  on  the  Crown,   80  sec 
tions.     Plato,  Crito,  and  the  historical  part  of  Phsedo. 

StJi  Semester. — Sophocles,  Antigone,  and  the  chief 
parts  of  CEdipus  Tyrannus. 

MODERN    LANGUAGES. 

The  only  living  tongues  admitted  to  the  curriculum 
are  the  French  and  German.  A  somewhat  wider  scope 
is  allowed  for  the  study  of  these  than  in  ordinary  Ameri 
can  colleges ;  but  they  are  subjected  to  the  same  rigor 
ous  restrictions  as  other  branches,  as  to  time,  order,  and 
method  of  teaching. 


46 

In  the  disciplinary  part  of  the  curriculum  every  stu 
dent  is  required  to  take,  in  connection  with  Latin  and 
Mathematics,  some  one  additional  language,  (it  may  be 
Greek,  German,  or  French,)  beginning  its  study  in  the 
second  preparatory  year.  French  is  usually  selected  at 
this  stage,  Greek  and  German  being  deferred  till  later. 
But  any  who  prefer  may  omit  French  entirely,  and  take 
either  Greek  or  German  instead. 

FEENCH. 

The  course  commences  in  the  second  preparatory  year 
with  'Otto's  Grammar.  In  the  second  semester  a  reader 
is  added,  and  the  exercise  of  translation  goes  on  side  by 
side  with  daily  drill  in  the  forms  and  rules  of  grammar. 
Colloquial  practice  begins  with  the  first  lesson  and  is 
continued  without  intermission  to  the  last,  the  student 
being  stimulated  to  add  continually  to  her  stock  of  words 
and  phrases,  and  by  constant  practice  to  accustom  her 
ear  and  tongue  to  the  French  accent. 

In  the  freshman  class  Otto  is  replaced  by  Borel's 
Grammar,  "  First  Course,"  and  Pylodet's  selections  from 
contemporary  literature  are  read.  The  students  state, 
in  French,  the  prominent  facts  in  the  life  of  the  author. 

After  the  freshman  year,  there  are  three  optional 
semesters,  one  in  each  year. 

Sophomore. — Borel,  "  Second  course."  Pylodet's  Lit- 
terature  Classique.  French  composition. 

Junior.  -  -  Poitevin's  Syntaxe.  Howard's  Aids  to 
French  Composition.  Litterature  Classique,  finished. 

Senior. — Select  readings  from  Boileau,  Moliere,  Cor- 


neille,  and  Racine.  Demogeot's  Histoire  de  la  Lit- 
tcraturc.  Exercises  in  Composition  and  Conversation. 
The  French  students  sit  together  at  table,  and  meet 
twice  a  week,  socially,  for  French  conversation.  The 
college  library  contains  a  choice  collection  of  standard 
French  writers,  and  French  periodicals  are  received  in 
the  reading-room. 

o 

GERMAN. 

The  study  of  German  is  not  begun  until  the  middle 
of  the  sophomore  year.  As  already  remarked,  the  stu 
dents  have  at  the  outset  a  special  advantage  from  their 
previous  drill  in  the  grammar  of  three  different  lan 
guages, — the  English,  the  Latin,  and  the  French, — so  that, 
after  a  brief  attention  to  the  specialties  of  German  in 
flection,  construction,  and  accent,  they  find  themselves 
prepared  to  enter  appreciatively  into  the  study  of  the 
literature,  and  are  able,  within  the  five  semesters  as 
signed  to  it,  to  attain  a  pretty  thorough  knowledge  of 
the  structure  and  history  of  the  language,  together  with 
some  sympathetic  acquaintance  with  its  greatest  writers. 
A  good  degree  of  proficiency  is  also  attained  in  the 
practical  use  of  it.  In  the  later  part  of  the  course,  coin 
ciding  as  it  does  witli  the  most  advanced  stages  of  the 
curriculum,  it  is  endeavored  to  make  the  study  of  Ger 
man  literature  a  valuable  praxis  in  literary  criticism, 
and  an  inspiration  to  high  intellectual  activity. 

The  details  of  the  course  are  as  follows  : 

1st  Semester.  --  Otto's  Grammar,  Part  I.  Adler's 
Reader.  Schiller's  and  Goethe's  BalLul<. 

Id  Semester.  —  Otto's  Grammar,  Part  II.  Schiller's 
Wilhelm  TeU.  English  into  German. 


48 

3  J  Semester. — Schiller's  Wallenstein,  Parts  II.  and  III. 
Select  readings  in  prose  and  poetry. 

4:t7i  Semester. — Goethe's  Torquato  Tasso  and  Iphigenie. 
German  composition. 

5t7i  Semester. — Goethe's  Faust.  History  of  German 
literature. 

The  conversational  use  of  the  language  is  constantly 
exercised  in  the  class-room,  at  the  German  table,  and 
elsewhere.  Occasional  German  evenings  are  held,  in 
which  dramatic  and  other  recitations,  songs,  original  es 
says,  etc.,  afford  the  students  valuable  help  in  acquiring 
fluency  of  .utterance.  The  library  contains  all  the  Ger 
man  classics  and  a  copious  collection  of  contemporary 
works,  and  in  the  reading-room  several  popular  peri 
odicals  are  regularly  received. 

HISTORY. 

An  outline  of  ancient  history  is  given  to  the  prepa 
ratory  students,  and  is  required  of  all  before  entering 
freshman. 

During  the  collegiate  years,  on  account  of  the  crowd 
ed  state  of  the  curriculum,  no  provision  was  originally 
made  for  any  direct  instruction  in  history.  Reliance 
was  placed  on  the  introduction  of  the  historical  element 
in  the  instructions  of  the  several  departments,  and  on 
the  cultivation  of  a  habit  of  private  historical  reading 
among  the  students.  These  reliances  having  proved  in 
adequate,  an  arrangement  will  go  into  operation  in  the 
coming  college  year,  by  which  every  student  will  be  af 
forded  a  cursory  survey  of  the  fleld  of  general  history. 

In  the  first  semester  of  the  sophomore  year,  a  series 
of  weekly  lectures  will  be  given  by  a  professor  in  the 


49 

history  of  ancient  civilization  ;  in  the  second  semester, 
a  similar  series  will  be  given  on  mediaeval  history,  and 
one  on  modern  history  during  a  semester  of  the  junior. 
A  continual  aim  of  the  course  will  be  to  connect  and 
correlate,  from  an  historical  point  of  view,  the  instruc 
tions  of  all  the  departments,  drawing  its  illustrations 
therefrom,  and  exhibiting"^  synoptical  view  of  the  pro 
gressive  development  of  human  civilization  and  culture 
in  literature,  science,  philosophy,  and  art,  as  well  as  in 
the  course  of  political  events. 

MATHEMATICS. 

The  college  course  in  pure  mathematics  commences  on 
a  basis  of  common  arithmetic  and  the  algebra  of  simple 
equations,  and  assigns  four  successive  semesters  to  the 
following  branches  :  (1.)  to  the  completing  of  algebra ; 
(2.)  to  geometry ;  (3.)  to  trigonometry;  (4.)  to  gene 
ral  geometry,  including  calculus. 

A  cardinal  feature  of  the  plan  in  this  as  in  other  de 
partments  is  limitation  for  the  sake  of  thoroughness. 
Completeness,  however,  is  indispensable  here ;  and  this 
is  secured  by  selecting  only  the  cardinal  doctrines  of  the 
given-  branch,  concentrating  attention  on  these,  and 
treating  all  beside  as  incidental,  and,  for  the  immediate 
purpose,  unessential.  By  thus  magnifying  and  continu 
ally  reviewing  the  main  points,  and  connecting  each  mi 
nor  principle  as  a  mere  corollary  to  a  great  one,  the  stu 
dent  is  surprised  at  last  to  find  that,  though  she  has 
omitted  much,  she  has  really  comprehended  the  whole, 
the  essence  of  the  text-book  being  so  much  less  volumi 
nous  than  the  book  itself.  The  mental  effect  of  this. 
4 


50 

method  is  of  the  happiest  character.  A  great  and  fer 
tile  principle  once  clearly  understood  by  all  the  members 
of  a  class,  the  applications  of  it  become  the  mere  play 
of  their  knowledge ;  and  problems  involving  it,  original 
or  selected,  are  often  made  matter  of  recreation  and  ta 
ble-talk. 

In  algebra,  for  instance,  the  problems  given  in  i  the 
text-book  are  regarded  as  no  part  of  the  treatise  itself. 
Other  problems  are  often  substituted  for  them;  and,  in 
review  especially,  preference  is  invariably  given  to  prob 
lems  not  used  before.  The  motto  is,  "An  old  problem 
is  no  test ;  its  solution  may  be,  more  or  less,  a  matter  of 
memory." 

So  in  geometry  all  corollaries  are  treated,  not  as  things 
to  be  learned  for  their  own  sake,  though  useful  with 
other  tests  in  determining  whether  the  main  proposition 
has  been  mastered.  The  student  is  taught  to  dis 
cover  corollaries.  By  thus  acquiring  the  habit  of  search 
ing  for  the  implications  of  the  proposition  under  consid 
eration,  she  often  comes  almost  originally  to  the  enun 
ciation  of  succeeding  propositions.  When  she  can  trace 
an  unbroken  line  of  dependence,  from  any  advanced 
proposition  back  to  the  definitions,  she  is  pronounced 
"  perfect "  on  the  roll. "  The  interesting  problems  ap 
pended  to  each  book  of  Loomis's  Geometry,  which  is  the 
manual  employed,  are  passed  over  entirely,  valuable  as 
the  effort  to  solve  them  would  be.  One  only  achieve 
ment  is  aimed  at,  namely,  to  master  the  logical  conse 
cution  that  connects  about  two  hundred  geometrical 
propositions  into  one  argument,  one  line  of  irrefragable 
demonstration. 


51 

By  this  method,  so  great  a  reduction  of  ground  is  ef 
fected  in  algebra  arid  geometry,  that  its  thorough  occu 
pation  becomes  feasible.  At  the  same  time,  the  student 
is  made  to  understand  that  what  she  has  attained  is  but 
a  skeleton  of  the  sciences  themselves,  valuable  mainly  as 
a  present  training  for  her  faculties  and  as  an  introduc 
tion  to  completer  work  should  she  choose  a  scientific 
career. 

In  trigonometry,  a  somewhat  different  method  is  pur 
sued,  every  principle  being  concreted,  (so  to  speak,)  as 
much  as  possible,  with  its  practical  applications.  To  the 
student  this  branch  of  mathematics  seems  to  exist  main 
ly  for  mensuration,  surveying,  navigation,  and  problems  of 
the  celestial  sphere.  In  this  way  she  obtains  some  dis 
tinct  illustration  of  the  utilities  of  mathematical  science. 

With  trigonometry  the  required  part  of  the  course 
in  mathematics  ends.  About  a  moiety  of  the  regular 
sophomore  class,  with  a  few  "  specials,"  usually  elect  the 
remaining  branch,  analytical  geometry  and  calculus, 
to  which  one  semester  is  appropriated.  Such  parts  of 
Olney's  treatise  are  selected  as  best  represent  the  sub 
ject.  All  the  conic  sections  are  thoroughly  discussed, 
with  the  full  use  of  the  differential  calculus,  the  admi 
rable  generalizations  of  this  author  greatly  facilitating 
the  work. 

PHYSICS. 

Two  semesters,  of  the  junior  year,  are  assigned  to 
general  physics,  (natural  philosophy,)  the  first  of  which 
is  devoted  to  statics  and  dynamics.  They  are  treated 
as  branches  of  mathematical  science,  and  demonstrations 
are  required  throughout. 


The  first  two  weeks  of  tlie  second  semester  are  spent 
in  a  brief  consideration  of  electricity,  limited  almost  en 
tirely  to  three  topics,  namely: 

1.  Conditions  of  the  excitement  of  frictional,  chemi 
cal,  thermal,  and  magneto-electricity. 

2.  Quantity  and  intensity,  and  the  conditions  for  con 
verting  either  to  the  other. 

3.  Varieties  and  effects  of  induction. 

The  greater  part  of  the  semester  is  given  to  sound, 
heat,  and  light.  Undulations  being  the  common  basis, 
that  subject  is  first  taken  up  and  discussed  in  the  most 
general  and  thorough  manner. 

The  method  of  instruction  is  the  following :  A  subject, 
as,  for  example,  Heat,  is  divided  into  topics ;  these  are 
written  seriatim  on  the  wall  blackboard  in  the  lecture- 
room.  Appended  to  every  title  are  copious  references  to 
the  text-book  in  the  hands  of  the  student,  and  to  other 
works  in  the  college  library.  The  professor  first  lectures 
on  each  topic  in  its  order,  with,  illustrative  experiments. 
The  students  use  note-books,  whether  listening,  or  read- 
in  o-,  or  observing,  entering  each  new  fact  till  the  note- 

O"  O7  O 

books  grow  into  the  main  text-books  for  review  and  ex 
amination.  Finally,  the  students  discuss  the  topics  in 
the  class,  each  in  her  own  way  and  according  to  the 
amount  of  her  available  knowledge.  No  rule  limits  the 
student  here.  One  will  make  a  simple  enunciation  of  a 
doctrine  which  another  expands  into  a  thesis,  and  both 
are  accepted,  so  far  as  they  are  correct.  If,  however,  a 
topic  has  not  been  exhausted  by  the  first  called  upon, 
others  are  allowed  to  extend  and  complete  the  discussion. 
Monday,  Wednesday,  and  Friday  of  each  week  are  ap- 


53 

propriated  to  lectures ;  Tuesday  and  Thursday,  to  class- 
drill  and  recitation. 

A  suit  of  two  rooms  is  assigned  to  this  branch, — a  lee 
ture-room,  and  a  laboratory  and  apparatus-room. 

The  lecture-room  is  provided  with  water,  steam,  gas, 
and  all  desirable  conveniences.  The  apparatus  has  been 
selected  with  specific  reference  to  class  instruction  ;  and 
every  piece  is  actually  used  in  course.  The  experiments 
are  chosen  for  exhibition  before  a  full  class.  Decisive  or 
"capital"  experiments,  rather  than  numerous,  is  the 
rule.  New  instruments  are  constantly  added,  and  the 
old  ones  improved  or  reconstructed,  to  keep  up  with  the 
progress  of  the  science.  No  apparatus  has  yet  been 
provided  for  original  investigation. 

CHEMISTRY. 

The  students  of  chemistry  meet  for  lectures  and  reci 
tations  daily  during  the  first  semester  of  the  senior  year, 
and  on  alternate  days  during  the  second. 

The  work  of  the  first  semester  embraces  the  theory  of 
inorganic  chemistry  and  the  practice  of  qualitative  anal 
ysis.  That  of  the  second  semester  embraces  organic 
chemistry,  and  certain  applications  of  chemistry  to  the 
arts,  namely  : 

a.  Chemistry  of  bread-making. 

b.  General  culinary  chemistry. 

c.  Toxicology  and  antidotes. 

d.  Dyeing  and  printing. 

e.  Coal  tar  and  its  products. 

/.  Curing,  tanning,  and  dressing  of  leather. 


54 
g.  The  precious  metals,  electroplating,  and  electro-cast 


ing. 


li.  Photo-chemistry  and  photography. 

i.  Metallurgy  of  iron,  and  manufacture  of  steel. 

A  suit  of  three  rooms  is  assigned  for  instruction  in 

o 

chemistry  :  the  professor's  laboratory  in  the  centre ;  the 
lecture-room  on  one  side,  and  the  students'  laboratory  on 
the  other.  They  are  all  provided  with  cold  and  hot  water, 
gas,  and  steam,  and  with  sinks,  basins,  and  wall  tables. 

The  same  methods  of  instruction  are  followed  as  in 
physics.  The  experiments,  however,  are  for  the  most 
part  performed  by  the  students  themselves.  For  labo 
ratory  practice  they  are  distributed  into  sections  of  eight 
or  ten  members,  each  section  having  the  exclusive  use  of 
the  laboratory  and  the  assistance  of  a  teacher  twice  or 
thrice  a  week. 

The  students'  laboratory  is  furnished  with  practice 
tables,  each  supplied  with  the  necessary  reagents  and  ap 
paratus  for  qualitative  analysis,  and  appropriated  to  the 
use  of  one  student.  Lar^e  blackboards,  hi^h  on  the 

O  7  O 

walls,  afford  room  for  a  full  statement  of  the  methods  in 
detail  for  the  particular  practice  in  hand. 

In  addition  to  a  complete  cabinet  of  the  elements  and 
compounds  required,  special  cabinets  have  been  com 
menced  of  the  various  objects  studied  in  the  second 
semester  in  different  stages  of  the  process  of  manufac 
ture.  These  greatly  assist  in  educating  the  faculty  and 
habit  of  exact  observation.  The  following  are  already 
tolerably  complete  : 

1.  Woven  fabrics,  dyes,  and  prints. 

2.  Combs, — ox-horn,  buffalo-horn,  and  shell. 


55 

3.  Paper, — cotton,  straw,  and  wood. 

4.  Iron, — ore,  puddled,  wrought,  and  steel. 

5.  Leather : 

a.  Hides, — ox,  horse,  hog,  buffalo,  deer,  etc. 

Z>.  Skins, — sheep,  goat,  kid,  dog,  cat,  rat,  etc.,  etc. 

Others  object-cabinets  will  be  added,  as  they  may  be 
required. 

ASTRONOMY. 

A  brief  course  of  lectures  on  topics  of  descriptive 
astronomy  is  given  by  the  professor  to  the  sophomore 
class,  as  a  popular  introduction  to  the  study.  In  the  As 
tronomical  Department  proper,  the  instruction  is  con 
ducted  strictly  on  a  mathematical  basis.  Before  entering 
upon  it,  the  student  must  have  passed  satisfactory  ex 
aminations  in  the  entire  mathematical  course.  Two 
semesters  of  the  junior  year  form  a  complete  course  in 
astronomy,  to  which  those  who  specially  desire  it  may 
add  one  more  in  the  senior  year. 

In  the  junior  year,  the  students  are  expected  to  become 
familiar  with  the  simple  problems  of  the  sphere,  involv 
ing  spherical  trigonometry,  with  the  use  of  formulae,  and 
with  the  computations  necessary  for  the  calculation  of 
lunar  eclipses.  The  text-book  in  hand  is  Norton's  As 
tronomy.  Outside  of  the  class-room,  the  students  are  en 
couraged  to  give  all  the  time  at  their  command  to  the 
use  of  instruments,  and  instructed  in  the  manner  of  em 
ploying  and  handling  them.  Small  refracting  telescopes 
and  a  small  transit  instrument  are  put  into  their  hands 
for  free  use,  and  they  are  allowed  some  practice  with  the 
large  meridian  instrument  belonging  to  the  college. 


56 

The  students  who  elect  astronomy  in  the  senior  year- 
are  expected  to  read  Bessel's  Method  of  Computing  Solar 
Eclipses  (as  given  in  Chauvenet's  Astronomy),  and  to 
go  through  with  the  computation  of  a  solar  eclipse  by 
the  most  rigorous  method.  In  a  few  cases  they  have  also 
taken  up  the  method  of  "  least  squares,"  reading  thor 
oughly  the  discussions  on  that  subject  in  the  appendix 
to  Chauvenet's  work. 

The  practical  working  of  the  observatory  is  limited  to 
the  following  classes  of  observations : 

a.  Observations  of  meridian  passages  of  stars,  for  time 
of  the  college. 

l>.  Observations  for  the  longitude  of  the  observatory, 
such  as  occultations,  and  moon  culminations. 

c.  Observations  for  latitude,  with  zenith  telescope. 

d.  Observations    of   phenomena  of   Jupiter    and    its 
satellites. 

e.  Observations  of  sun  spots. 

f.  Observations  of  barometer  and  thermometer. 

As  the  director  of  the  observatory  (who  is  also  the 
professor  of  astronomy)  has  no  regular  assistants,  the 
voluntary  aid  of  the  students  is  of  the  greatest  service  to 
her,  while  to  them  it  is  a  valuable  means  of  practical 
education.  The  meteorological  observations  are  left 

o 

wholly  to  students ;  and  two  students  have,  this  year, 
made  all  the  observations  on  sun  spots.  These  are  pho. 
tographic,  and  the  negatives  are  carefully  preserved  for 
future  measurement.  As  far  as  other  duties  allow,  the 
students  are  always  present  when  observations  are  made. 
Observations  made  by  them  at  any  time  on  meteors, 
aurora,  positions  of  planets,  or  other  phenomena,  they 


57 

are  requested  to  report  at  the  observatory,  and  a  portion 
of  these  are  published  in  a  scientific  journal ;  the  object 
being  to  stimulate  their  power  of  observing. 

Students  who  remain  in  the  department  two  years 
are  not  likely  to  give  up  their  studies  in  that  direction 
afterward.  Some  of  these  have  purchased  telescopes 
since  leaving  college,  and  are  using  them  in  their  own 
homes ;  several  have  been  engaged  in  teaching  astrono 
my,  and  two  in  making  computations  and  observations 
for  another  observatory. 

NATURAL    HISTORY. 

The  work  of  this  department  extends  through  five 
and  a  half  semesters,  in  the  preparatory  and  collegiate 
course.  The  branches  pursued  are  physical  geography, 
botany,  zoology,  mineralogy,  and  geology.  They  are 
taught  partly  by  text-books  and  partly  by  lectures,  ac 
companied  by  direct  observation  in  field  and  laboratory. 

From  the  outset,  the  student  is  taught  that  natural 
history  does  not  consist  in  collecting  specimens,  learning 
names,  or  cramming  with  facts  ;  that  scientific  knowledge 
comes  from  a  study  of  tilings;  and  that  the  mind  must 
form  the  habit  of  appealing  directly  to  nature.  The 
student  is  cautioned  to  discriminate  between  facts  and 
the  speculations  founded  on  them,  between  what  she 
knows  and  what  she  may  believe.  It  is  not  expected 
that  the  department  will  graduate  botanists,  zoologists, 
or  geologists.  What  is  aimed  at  is,  to  arouse  the  spirit 
of  inquiry,  to  cultivate  a  habit  of  observation,  to  fix  at 
tention  upon  resemblances  and  differences,  and  thus 
to  teach  the  student  to  teach  herself. 


58 

Physical  geography  is  taught,  in  the  preparatory 
course,  by  the  use  of  Guyot's  wall-maps  and  a  text-book. 

Botany  is  placed  at  the  entrance  to  the  college  course, 
and  made  obligatory.  The  developmental  history  and 
structure  of  the  various  parts  of  plants  are  first  taken  up ; 
next  the  study  of  their  functions  ;  then,  and  not  till  then, 
the  analysis  of  flowers  for  classification.  For  work  in 
the  botanical  laboratory,  the  students  are  distributed  in 
sections  of  eight  or  ten  members,  each  section  meeting 
the  teacher  three  times  a  week  for  dissecting  specimens 
collected  by  themselves.  The  time  allotted  to  this 
branch  does  not  allow  the  student  to  do  more  than  mas 
ter  the  characteristics  of  the  principal  orders;  but  those 
who  have  the  taste  pursue  the  science  during  the  rest  of 
their  course,  and  form  herbariums. 

Zoology  is  commenced  in  the  second  semester  of  the 
sophomore  year,  and  the  method  is  similar  to  that  em 
ployed  in  the  study  of  botany :  first  the  structural,  then 
the  systematic.  From  the  lowest  forms  up  to  man,  is  the 
order  followed.  Every  effort  is  made,  by  the  use  of  spe 
cimens  and  drawings,  to  imprint  the  fundamental  princi 
ples  by  sensible  impressions  on  the  eye,  the  ear,  and  the 
touch.  The  zoological  collections  of  the  college  are  free 
ly  open  to  all  the  students,  and  serve  to  kindle  a  love 
for  nature  and  to  stimulate  inquiry.  For  the  class-room, 
the  collections  are  used  on  the  "  typical  principle  ;"  that 
is,  only  such  specimens  are  selected  as  illustrate  the  lead 
ing  structural  modifications  and  modes  of  development 
of  the  representative  forms  of  life.  Around  these,  as 
so  many  fixed  centres,  other  facts  will  collect  by  natural 
affinity. 


59 

Instruction  in  mineralogy  (including  lithology)  and 
geology  is  given  by  means  of  Dana's  text-books,  with  oc 
casional  lectures ;  by  the  aid  of  unusually  fine  cabinets  of 
minerals,  rocks,  and  fossils;  and  by  excursions.  Attention 
is  mainly  confined  to  American  geology.  The  students 
have  the  free  use  of  an  extensive  series  of  "  working  spe 
cimens,"  and  are  taught  how  to  construct  geological  maps 
and  sections.  None  are  allowed  to  enter  geology  who 

O  o«/ 

have  not  passed  in  the  preceding  branches.  During  the 
last  semester  of  the  senior  year,  an  advanced  course  is 
provided,  in  which  many  of  the  great  questions  rising 
out  of  geology  and  its  kindred  sciences  are  discussed, 
and  papers  are  read  alternately  by  the  professor  and 
members  of  the  class. 

Growing  out  of  the  department  is  a  Society  of  Natural 
History,  a  voluntary  association  of  students  specially  in 
terested  in  the  study  of  nature,  who  meet  periodically 
for  mutual  improvement. 

The  Museum  of  Natural  History  is  unusually  wrell  ad 
apted  to  educational  uses,  and  is  made  in  all  its  parts  to 
serve  the  purpose  of  its  creation.  It  consists  of  a  cabi 
net  of  minerals,  rocks,  and  fossils,  the  Giraud  Collection 
of  North- American  Birds,  a  cabinet  of  comparative  zoolo 
gy,  and  an  herbarium. 

The  minerals  number  about  four  thousand  specimens, 
selected  specifically  for  their  educational  value.  The  aim 
lias  been  to  form  a  well-proportioned  cabinet  of  choice 
specimens,  each  class  having  the  representation  which 
properly  belongs  to  it,  and  no  more.  Both  the  crystal 
lized  and  amorphous  conditions  of  the  mineral  are  repre 
sented.  Every  specimen  is  separately  mounted  on  a  var- 


GO 

nislied  block,  which  bears  a  printed  card  with  the  name 
and  locality  legibly  inscribed.  Besides  this  systematic 
collection  are  series  of  models  in  wood  and  glass,  solid, 
transparent,  and  dissecting,  for  illustrating  crystallogra 
phy,  a  series  exhibiting  the  physical  characteristics  of 
minerals,  and  a  "  working  series"  of  specimens  for  the 
use  of  the  students. 

The  Lithological  Cabinet  is  a  classified  series  of  all  the 
important  rocks  from  granite  to  peat.  The  specimens 
number  about  seven  hundred. 

The  Cabinet  of  Palaeontology  contains  forty-five  hun 
dred  fossils  from  the  standard  localities  of  Europe  and 
America,  distributed  according  to  geological  formation. 
Each  specimen  is  mounted  and  labeled  as  in  the  mineral 
cabinet.  'Besides  these  are  many  valuable  models,  resto 
rations,  relief-maps,  sections,  and  landscapes. 

The  Herbarium  consists  mainly  of  plants  from  New 
England  and  New  York,  of  which  there  are  about  five 
hundred  species.  It  is  uniquely  arranged  for  ready  refer 
ence,  and  is  accessible  to  the  students.  It  is  gradually 
increasing  by  a  system  of  exchanges. 

The  Cabinet  of  North-American  Birds,  founded  by 
the  late  J.  P.  Giraud,  Jr.,  of  Poughkeepsie,  is  one  of 
the  most  valuable  collections  in  the  United  States.  It 
now  contains  about  one  thousand  specimens,  represent 
ing  over  seven  hundred  species,  including  several  type 
specimens  and  many  of  historical  interest  as  the  originals 
of  Audubon's  celebrated  drawings.  Mr.  Giraud  left  a 
fund  for  its  completion,  which  will  eventually  make  it  a 
perfect  collection  of  all  the  species  between  Panama  and 
the  Arctic  Ocean.  The  specimens  are  all  mounted,  chief- 


61 

ly  by  Mr.  Bell  of  New  York,  and  each  has  a  printed  la 
bel,  giving  scientific  and  common  names,  with  the 
range. 

The  Cabinet  of  General  Zoology,  already  numbering 
over  five  thousand  specimens,  is  rapidly  increasing.  It  com 
prises  about  five  hundred  mammals,  birds,  and  reptiles 
from  South  America,  collected  by  Professor  Orton,  includ 
ing,  probably,  the  largest  series  of  humming-birds  in 
any  college  museum  ;  representative  vertebrates  from  our 
own  country ;  a  small  collection  of  insects  and  shells, 
sufficient  for  class-purposes,  but  inadequate  at  present  to 
give  a  proportionate  idea  of  these  great  sub-kingdoms  ; 
a  fine  collection  of  corals  and  other  radiates,  including 
an  unusually  perfect  specimen  of  the  rare  Pentacrinus 
Midleri,  "the  last  of  the  crinoids ;"  a  choice  osteologi- 
cal  series,  without  which  it  would  be  impossible  to  give 
an  intelligent  view  of  structural  zoology;  and  some 
clastic  anatomical  models  prepared  by  Dr.  Auzoux  of 
Paris.  Comparative  rather  than  descriptive  zoology  is 
taught  by  the  use  of  these  specimens.  Annual  additions 
are  made  to  this  cabinet  by  means  of  a  fund  established 
by  Mr.  Vassar ;  and  it  is  the  aim  to  give  the  fullest  ex 
pression  to  New- World  forms,  a  limited  number  of  for 
eign  representative  types  being  added  for  classification 
and  comparison. 

The  college  museum  is  not  regarded  as  a  luxury,  nor 
as  a  mere  appendage  for  display,  but  as  an  essential  and 
most  important  instrument  of  education  ;  and,  as  such, 
every  part  of  it  is  kept  vigorously  at  work  in  the  instruc 
tions  of  the  department. 


PHYSIOLOGY  AND    HYGIENE. 

This  department  lias  a  twofold  object : 

a.  The  instruction  of  the  students  in  the  fundamental 
principles  of  human  physiology  and  the  science  of 
health; 

1.  The  maintenance  of  sanitary  regulations  in  the  col 
lege  family. 

The  means  employed  for  the  first  are  the  following : 

1.  Lectures  given  once  in  two  or  three  weeks  before 
the  whole  body  of  students  upon  topics  of  practical  and 
general  importance. 

2.  A  course  of  instruction  in  elementary  physiology 
given  in  semi-weekly  lectures  to  the  freshman  class  dur 
ing  the  first  half  of  the  collegiate  year. 

3.  Daily  recitations  for  those  members  of  the  senior 
class  who  elect  that  study  in  the  second  half  of  the  col 
legiate  year. 

The  chapel  lectures  are  on  such  tjiemes  as  the  follow 
ing  :  Food  and  Digestion  ;  Circulation  ;  The  Skin ;  Bath 
ing  ;  Dress ;  Sleep ;  Exercise ;  Care  of  the  Eyes ;  Care  of 
the  Sick ;  etc.,  etc.  They  are  designed  to  help  all  the  stu 
dents,  from  oldest  to  youngest,  at  the  outset  of  their  res 
idence  here,  to  form  some  definite  ideas  of  what  consti 
tutes  a  healthful  regimen,  and  to  inspire  them  to  estab 
lish  their  college  life  upon  that  basis. 

The  lectures  to  the  freshmen  aim  to  <nve  such  ana- 

O 

tomical  and  physiological  facts  as  will  add  intelligent 
interest  to  gymnastic  and  other  physical  training,  en 
courage  each  student  to  seek  to  combine  in  her  college 
course  the  best  mental  culture  with  the  development  of 


63 

physical  strength  and  grace,  and  fix  the  conviction  that 
sound  health  is  the  prime  necessity  for  success  in  such 
culture. 

The  study  of  physiology,  (including  an  outline  of  anat 
omy  and  hygiene,)  to  which  one  semester  of  the  senior 
year  is  assigned,  is  of  course  only  an  introduction  to  the 
vast  domain  of  physiological  research.  It  is  intended, 
however,  to  give  something  more  than  a  superficial 
glimpse  of  the  most  essential  portions  of  the  field;  and, 
with  the  degree  of  maturity  and  discipline  for  study 
which  seniors  bring  to  the  work,  a  good  deal  can  be  ac 
complished  in  half  a  year.  The  text-book  used  is  the 
"Anatomy,  Physiology,  and  Hygiene"  of  John  C.  Dra 
per,  which  suggests  the  topics  and  the  order  in  which 
they  are  discussed  ;  but  the  students  are  referred  to  more 
complete  and  carefully  written  treatises,  in  the  college 
library,  for  their  study  of  every  point  that  comes  under 
consideration.  The  topics  to  which  attention  is  princi 
pally  limited  are,  the  skeleton,  the  muscular  system,  the 
respiratory,  the  circulatory,  and  digestive  apparatus,  the 
nervous  supply,  and  the  special  senses.  sTlie  main  facts 
regarding  these  are  carefully  considered.  The  control 
ling  aim  of  the  instruction  is,  (1.)  to  lay  a  thoroughly 
substantial  foundation — so  far  as  it  goes — for  special  stu 
dies  in  physiology  and  the  related  sciences,  should  the 
student  have  subsequent  opportunity  and  desire  there 
for  ;  and  (2.)  to  fit  all  to  be  teachers  and  exponents  of 
the  laws  of  healthful  action,  in  whatever  sphere  they  may 
be  called  to  act. 

The  section  of  the  library  appropriated  to  this  depart 
ment  contains  about  two  hundred  volumes,  embracing 


64 

the  best  works  on  physiology  and  its  kindred  sciences. 
Means  for  illustration  are  had  in  the  apparatus  of  a  well- 
selected  cabinet  and  the  fresh  specimens  that  can  always 
be  obtained  in  market.  The  cabinet  consists  of  skele 
tons,  articulated  and  non-articulated  ;  a  complete  dissec- 
tible  manikin  ;  large  dissectible  models  of  the  larynx, 
eye,  and  ear;  various  desiccated  specimens,  etc.,  etc.;  all 
chosen  for  the  single  purpose  of  elucidating  the  selected 
topics  of  study. 

The  sanitary  regulations  of  the  household  are  under  the 
official  direction  of  the  same  professor,  as  resident  physi 
cian  and  general  health  officer.  These  aim  to  insure  the 
following  objects: 

a.  Regularity  in  hours  for  work,  recreation,  rest,  bath 
ing,  and  eating ; 

b.  The  ventilation  and  cleanliness  of  the  college  build 


ings  ; 


c.  The  abundant  supply  of  simple  nutritious  food ; 

d.  The    careful  expectant  treatment  of  any  who  are 
threatened  with  illness ; 

e.  The  isolation  of  any  who  have  been  exposed  to,  or 
are  attacked  by,  contagious  disorders. 

Improved  health  and  increased  vigor  of  mental  and 
physical  force  have  been  the  rule  among  the  students 
since  the  college  life  and  work  were  fairly  systematized. 
During  the  present  year,  the  average  of  daily  health-ex 
cuses  from  regular  duties  has  been  scarcely  one  per  cent 
of  the  whole  number  of  students. 


G5 


PHILOSOPHY. 

The  only  branches  of  philosophy  hitherto  attempted 
are  psychology  and  ethics,  to  each  of  which  one  semes 
ter  of  the  senior  year  is  devoted. 

The  leading  objects  of  the  instructions  are : 

(i.  To  afford  the  student  an  additional  variety  of  in 
tellectual  discipline,  by  exercising  her  powers  in  a  new 
field  of  scientific  inquiry,  where  a  different  sort  of  prob 
lems  from  any  she  has  before  considered  are  to  be  solved 
by  new  methods  of  reasoning  and  research. 

I.  To  give  her  some  general  knowledge  of  the  great 
questions  which  have  divided  the  opinions  of  thinking 
men  in  regard  to  the  nature  of  man  and  his  relations  to 
the  universe,  of  the  progress  of  human  thought  respecting 
these  subjects,  and  of  the  different  schools  of  philosophy 
which  they  have  originated. 

c.  To  furnish  material  and  guidance  for  forming  some 
philosophical  beliefs  which  she  may  fairly  call  her  own. 
In  the  class-room  memoriter  recitals  are  systematically 
discountenanced.  After  a  brief  analysis  of  the  views 
presented  in  the  lecture  or  text-book,  the  door  is  opened 
for  discussion.  Entire  freedom  of  thought  is  allowed  and 
encouraged,  light  is  welcomed  from  whatever  quarter, 
and  special  interest  is  attached  to  the  more  recent  and 
advanced  phases  of  opinion.  At  the  same  time  the 
professor  endeavors  to  inculcate,  both  by  precept  and 
example,  a  prudent  conservatism  and  proper  respect  for 
authority,  and,  by  every  legitimate  influence  of  expla 
nation  and  reasoning,  to  establish  intelligent  convictions 
of  the  reality  of  man's  spiritual  existence,  of  the  certain- 

5 


66 

ty  of  his  knowledge  within  definable  limits,  and  of  his 
responsibility  to  moral  law  as  an  ultimate  fact  of  his 
nature. 

For  the  sake  of  definiteness  and  precision,  the  Scot 
tish  school  is  selected  for  special  study,  in  both  intellec 
tual  and  moral  philosophy,  as  affording  the  basis  of  the 
most  current  ideas  and  of  the  popular  philosophical  ter 
minology  among  the  English-speaking  peoples,  and  there 
fore  the  most  convenient  point  of  departure  for  the  tyro 
in  these  studies.  Sir  William  Hamilton's  psychological 
system  is  studied  in  detail,  and  compared  point  by  point 
with  the  doctrines  of  his  predecessors,  especially  those  of 
Keid,  the  founder  of  the  school.  Bowen's  and  Murray's 
Outlines  are  in  the  hands  of  the  students ;  and  Hamil 
ton's  full  works,  with  duplicates  of  Keid,  Stewart,  and 
Brown,  are  placed  on  the  library  shelves,  in  sufficient 
numbers  to  allow  of  convenient  daily  consultation  by  the 
entire  class.  Additional  information  respecting  related 
schools,  especially  the  later  German  and  French,  and  re 
specting  the  criticisms  of  Hamilton  by  Mill  and  other 
English  writers,  are  supplied  in  the  lectures  of  the 
professor. 

In  moral  philosophy,  the  text-books  have  been  Way- 
land's  Moral  Science,  and  Calderwood's  Handbook.  The 
latter  is  specially  valuable  for  class  use  as  a  thesaurus  of 
references,  and  as  presenting  the  latest  phases  of  antago 
nism  in  ethical  science.  The  details  of  the  wrork,  at  the 
same  time,  afford  ample  subjects  for  criticism  in  the  dis 
cussions  of  the  class-room.  When  there  is  time  for  an 
^outline  of  practical  ethics,  Dr.  Wayland's  manual  has 
been  taken  as  a  guide. 


67 

The  results  attained  by  the  training  in  this  depart 
ment  are  more  and  more  satisfactory,  especially  in  de 
veloping  habits  of  free  and  independent  reflection  on 
philosophical  questions.  The  students  are  made  as 
much  as  possible  to  feel  that  one  intelligent  conviction 
which  is  really  their  own,  gained  by  honest  reflection,  and, 
maintained  with  earnest  candor,  is  worth  an  army  of 
borrowed  opinions,  however  profound,  whether  as  an 
element  of  thought  or  an  inspiration  to  life. 

ART    STUDIES. 

It  is  understood,  in  the  outset,  that  the  college  is  in  no 
special  sense  an  art  school.  The  claims  of  general  intel 
lectual  education  are  paramount.  ^Esthetic  culture, 
however,  has  a  recognized  place  in  a  complete  and  well- 
proportioned  training,  whether  for  man  or  woman ;  and 
of  the  two,  is  certainly  not  the  less  important  for  the  lat 
ter.  In  providing  for  instruction  in  music,  therefore,  and 
in  the  arts  of  design,  the  aim  has  been  to  reconcile  two 
things, — a  proper  subordination  to  the  claims  of  the  aca 
demical  course,  and  a  high  order  of  instruction  in  the 
arts  themselves.  The  first  object  has  been  secured  by 
allowing  no  regular  student  to  take  more  than  one  art 
study  at  a  time,  and  by  strictly  limiting  the  time  spent 
in  lessons  and  practice;  the  second,  by  adopting  the 
highest  standard  of  taste  in  the  instructions  given,  and 
placing  them  under  the  direction  of  accomplished 
masters. 

MUSIC. 

The  branches  of  music  taught  are  piano-forte  and  organ 
playing,  singing  (solo  and  chorus),  and  harmony.  To 


G8 

each  student  two  lessons  only  a  week  are  allowed,  with 
one  practice  period  of  forty  minutes  daily.  The  rule  of 
the  department  is  to  admit  no  models  of  inferior  merit 
to  its  rooms.  For  the  piano-forte,  the  works  of  Bach, 
Handel,  Scarlatti,  Haydn,  dementi,  Mozart,  Cramer. 
Beethoven,  Moschel'es,  Weber,  Schubert,  Mendelssohn, 
Schumann,  and  Liszt,  form  the  foundation ;  for  the  or 
gan,  those  of  Rink,  Hesse,  Ritter,  and  Bach  ;  for  singing, 
the  methods,  vocalises,  solfeggi,  etc.,  of  Garcia,  Yaccaj, 
Concone,  Bardogni,  and  Marches!,  together  with  arias 
from  the  best  Italian  and  French  operas,  and  songs  by 
Schubert,  Mendelssohn,  Schumann,  R.  Franz,  and  other 
good  German  composers. 

The  unusual  limitation  of  time  for  study  and  practice 
was  at  first  discouraging  to  both  teachers  and  pupils ; 
and  the  impression  seemed  to  be  general  that  little  could 
l>e  accomplished  for  musical  cultivation  under  such  re 
strictions.  The  result  has  been  a  pleasant  surprise  to  all 
concerned.  Thanks  to  a  sound  method,  a  rigid  economy 
of  time  and  effort,  and  the  healthy  effect  of  the  college 
course  in  strengthening  the  power  of  concentration  and 
general  capacity  for  improvement,  the  proficiency  of  the 
pupils  of  this  department  has  attracted  general  commen 
dation;  audit  is  a  noteworthy  fact,  that  the  students 
who  are  most  diligent  and  successful  in  the  severer  dis 
ciplinary  studies,  as  a  rule,  become  the  most  thorough 
musicians. 

To  extend  the  horizon  of  musical  knowledge,  lectures 
in  different  epochs  of  musical  history,  illustrated  by 
practical  examples,  are  given  by  the  professor.  A  selec- 


tion  of  standard  works,  in  different  languages,  on  musi 
cal  theory,  history,  aesthetics,  etc.,  forms  part  of  the  col 
lege  library. 

I) HAWING    AND    PAINTING. 

The  studies  in  this  department  aim— 

(t.  To  impart  the  power  of  imitating  natural  objects  by 
means  of  drawing  or  painting ; 

1).  To  train  the  eye  of  the  student  to  observe  beauties 
of  form  and  color  in  nature  ; 

c.  To  make  her  acquainted  with  the  best  productions 
of  art ; 

//.  To  instruct  her  in  the  history  and  theory  of  art ; 

e.  To  improve  her  taste  by  means  of  these  acquire 
ments,  not  only  in  general,  but  specifically  for  the  ses- 
thetical  questions  which  arise  in  the  ordinary  life  of 
woman. 

The  following  is  the  course  of  instruction  : 

1.  Drawing    of   projections    of  simple   figures,    like 
cubes,    cones,  cylinders,  etc.,    using   rule    and  measure 
ment. 

2.  Drawing  the  same  objects  in  perspective,  after  per 
spective  rules. 

3.  Drawing,  by  sight  alone,  different  objects,  beginning 
with  casts  from  simple  ornaments,  proceeding  through  a 
series  of  more  difficult  forms,  and  ending  with  casts  from 
busts  and  entire  human  figures. 

4.  Out-door  lessons  in  landscape  drawing. 

5.  Painting,  in  oil  and  water-color  paints,  after  pictures 
belonging  to  the  college  gallery. 

G.  Painting,  in  oil  and  water-color  paints,  from  natural 


/>bjects,  -tke  different'  cabinets  of  natural  history  affording 
a  choice  selection  -of  models  for  the  study  of  color  and 


7.  Lectures  on  the  history  and  theory  of  the  arts  of 
painting  and  sculpture,  and  on  the  principles  of  decora 
tion  as  applied  to  dress,  personal  ornaments,  house-fur 
nishing,  etc. 

O' 

As  aids  to  this  department  the  college  possesses  — 

1.  A  collection  of  five   hundred  oil  and  water-color 
paintings  by  living  artists  ; 

2.  A  collection  of  excellent  plaster  casts  from  ancient 
and  modern  sculpture,  imported  from  the  house  of  An 
tonio  Yanni  ; 

3.  A  collection  of  photographs  from  sculptures,  paint 
ings,  architectural  works,  and  from  original  drawings  by 
the  old  masters  ; 

4.  A  library  of  six  hundred  volumes,  comprising  some 
of  the  most  valuable  standard  works  on    art,  such  as 
Winckelmann's  "Ancient  Art,"  Liibke's  "  Monuments  of 
Art,"   D'Agincourt's  "Art  par  les  Monuments,"  Flax- 
man's  works,  Gruner's  "  Ornamental  Art,"  etc. 

These  paintings,  casts,  photographs,  and  books  form 
the  college  Art  Gallery,  to  which  some  additions  are  an 
nually  made  from  the  fund  provided  therefor. 

Several  of  the  pupils  of  the  department,  after  leaving 
college,  have  taken  up  the  study  of  art  with  the  aim  of 
making  it  their  profession,  and  some  are  teaching  draw 
ing  in  other  schools. 


SDMMABY. 

From  the  above  statements  it  will  not  "be  difficult  to 
determine  about  what  grade  and  system  of  instruction 
have  been  attained  in  the  institution  within  eight  years 
from  its  somewhat  discouraging  commencement.  It 

o        O 

should  be  remembered  that  this  is  not  a  prospectus,  but 
a  report, — not  a  programme  of  expectations  and  promises, 
but  a  record  of  what  is  actually  doing,  on  a  slowly 
matured  and  permanent  plan,  in  the  development  of 
which  all  violent  or  exceptional  influences  have  been 
carefully  eschewed. 

The  following  are  features  in  the  educational  policy  of 
the  college,  from  which  its  students  have  ceased  to 
expect  or  desire  any  departure. 

1.  The  course  of  studies  is  a  prescribed  one  to  the  mid 
dle  of  the  sophomore  year,  and  a  regulated  one  through 
out.     The  judgment  of  responsible  educators  determines 
the  branches  to  be  pursued,  and  the  order  of  pursuing 
them,  until  the  students  are  in  a  measure  fitted  to  elect 
for  themselves,  and  even  then  supervises  their  election 
so  far  as  not  to  permit  a  waste  of  time,  or  positive  injury 
to  education. 

2.  The  prescribed  part  of  the  course  embraces  a  due 
proportion  of  those  strictly  disciplinary  brandies  which, 
when   left   to   the   option    of  the  student,  are  almost 
always  either  wholly  neglected  or  so  slightly  studied  as 


72 

to  be  useless,  but  which,  if  thoroughly  taught,  experience 
proves  to  be  the  best  possible  preparative  for  advanced 
studies  in  science,  literature,  or  philosophy. 

3.  The  number  of  brandies  which  any  student  ma}' 
simultaneously   pursue   is   rigidly  limited.     Three    dis 
tinct  branches,  not  previously  pursued,  together  with 
one  art-study  to  which  a  definite  time  is  allotted,  are 
the  established  complement.     This  rule  prevents  an  evil 
often  charged  upon  young  ladies'  seminaries,  and  avoids 
the  danger  of  sacrificing  both  health  and  education  to 
over-haste  or  a  misguided  zeal  of  acquisition. 

4.  The  diploma  of  the  institution,  and  membership 
in  its  regular  classes,  have  a  definite  educational  signifi 
cance.,  on  the  recognized  collegiate  scale — each  being  a 
guaranty   that   the   student   has   passed    examinations, 
intended  to  be  test-examinations,  on  a  certain  number 
of  specified  branches,  in  a  well-adjusted  and  comprehen 
sive  curriculum. 

To  this  extent,  it  may  be  claimed,  the  attempt  at  regu 
lating  the  liiglier  education  of  women  has  been  success 
ful  ;  and,  though  a  thorough-going  criticism  can  not  fail 
to  notice  remaining  deficiencies,  what  has  been  accom 
plished  presents  at  least  a  fixed  point  of  departure  for 
future  improvements, — a  point,  too,  bearing  a  clear  rela 
tion  to  a  standard  of  established  authority. 

An  encouraging  fact  attending  the  progress  of  this 
experiment  is  the  changing  ratio  from  year  to  year 
between  the  number  of  regular  and  of  irregular  stu- 

o  O 

dents.  During  the  first  year,  as  has  already  been  sta 
ted,  all  were  irregular.  The  folio  win  %  are  the  figures 

/  O  O  O 

for  the  subsequent  years : 


73 

Regular.       Irtegulcr. 

1800-07,        .         .         .         .197          189 

1867-08, 210          123 

lsOS-09,        ....        290  72 

1809-70,    .         .          .         .         .  323  59 

1870-71,       ....        310.  05 

1871-72, 357  58 

1872-73,        ....        370  41 

With  each  succeeding  year,  the  list  of  irregulars  has 
consisted  more  nearly  of  such  only  as  properly  require 
a  special  course,  until  now  the  restriction  lias  become 
absolute,  and  the  irregulars  are  all  of  collegiate  grade. 

The  number  of  collegiates  proper,  as  distinguished 
from  both  specials  and  preparatories,  has  also  steadily 
increased,  as  thus : 


1800-07,  .  .119 
1807-08,  .  .  141 
1S08-G9,  .  104 


1869-70,  .  .  173 
1870-71,  .  .  175 
1871-72,  200 


i 
1872-73,         ...         235 

This  steady  growth  in  the  size  of  the  college  classes, 
notwithstanding  a  simultaneous  advance  in  the  require 
ments  of  admission,  encourages  the  hope  that  erelong 
the  accommodations  of  the  college  will  all  be  needed  for 
the  college  proper. 

To  estimate  the  full  significance  of  the  success  attained, 
it  must  be  remembered  that  the  experiment  has  not 
been  made  with  an  exceptional  and  limited  class  of 
students,  nor  on  the  basis  of  endowed  and  gratuitous 
instruction.  It  is  the  success  of  'a  fully  organized 
school,  with  a  large  number  of  students,  drawn  from 
all  parts  of  the  country  and  all  classes  in  the  community, 


74 

and  paying  full  price  for  their  advantages.  It  has  been 
won  in  an  open  and  fair  competition  with  the  numerous, 
well-appointed,  and  well-conducted  ladies'  seminaries 
and  academies  all  over  the  land,  and  may  therefore  fairly 
be  taken  as  the  exponent  of  a  decided  and  permanent 
advance  of  public  sentiment  in  regard  to  the  distinctive 
principle  which  it  represents,  that  of  a  strictly  collegiate 
education  for  wromen. 

Of  this  progress  in  American  opinion  there  are  other 
encouraoqno;  indications.     The  idea  has  ceased  to  be  a 

O        o 

strange  one  to  the  public  mind.  No  subject  has  been 
more  frequently  or  earnestly  discussed  for  the  last  five 
years  in  the  newspapers  and  magazines,  and  no  one  can 
doubt  that  the  drift  of  the  discussion  has  been  toward 
a  favorable  verdict.  T\vo  large  bequests  have  been 
made,  in  Massachusetts,  to  found  colleges  where  women 
may  be  educated.  Michigan  University,  Cornell  Uni 
versity,  and  some  of  the  older  and  most  respectable 
New  England  colleges  have  formally  opened  their  doors 
for  the  admission  of  young  women.  Others  are  pressed 
with,  urgent  applications  to  take  a  similar  step ;  and 
where  such  applications  are  met,  as  at  Harvard,  with  a 
decided  negative,  the  refusal  is  noticeably  grounded  less 
and  less  on  any  general  objection  to  furnishing  such 
advantages  to  women,  and  more  and  more  on  doubts  as 
to  the  expediency  of  educating  the  sexes  together,  and 
on  the  unreasonableness  of  requiring  institutions  already 
burdened  with  responsibilities  beyond  their  means  to 
assume  the  risks  of  a  new  and  (if  rightly  conducted) 
expensive  experiment. 

"With    the    theoretical    question   of    "  co-education," 


75 

which  these  efforts  to  open  the  old  colleges  have  pressed 
into  prominence,  Vassar  has  no  concern.  Whatever 
hazard  may  attend  the  gathering  into  the  same  academi 
cal  community  of  large  numbers  of  young  men  and 
women,  or  whatever  difficulty  there  may  be  in  adjusting 
a  common  curriculum  to  the  claims  of  both  a  masculine 
and  a  feminine  culture,  she  is  free  from  such  embarrass 
ments.  She  has  fairly  tried  the  experiment  of  the  ca 
pacity  of  women,  under  conditions  specially  adopted  to 
tlieir  wants,  for  the  most  thorough,  systematic,  and  com 
prehensive  education.  Under  such  conditions,  at  least, 
she  has  furnished  a  practical  refutation  of  ancient  preju 
dices  on  this  subject.  Her  examination-rooms  are  open 
to  the  inspection  of  competent  judges,  and  her  daughters 
will  not  shrink  from  comparison  with  young  men  of  cor 
responding  grade  and  equal  advantages.  For  rosy  health 
and  vigor,  she  challenges  the  production  of  four  hun 
dred  young  women  thrown  together  under  any  other 
system  of  training,  or  in  any  other  line  of  life,  who  will 
surpass  or  equal  them.  And  if  any  still  labor  under  the 
impression  that  earnest  study  and  high  intellectual  cul 
ture  are  destructive  of  feminine  grace  and  refinement, 
a  visit  to  Vassar  will  dispel  the  delusion.  No  parts  of 
the  system  there  adopted  have  yielded  more  thoroughly 
satisfactory  results  than  the  provisions  made  for  health 
and  for  social  and  moral  culture.  The  success  attained 
in  these  respects  is  believed  to  be  attributable  to  the  sys 
tematic  care  which  has  been  extended  over  those  invalu 
able  interests,  and  to  the  presence  and  tireless  efficiency  of 
responsible  officers  charged  with  their  protection.  With 
out  the  vigilant  supervision  of  the  lady  principal  and  the 


76 

resident  physician,  and  the  lady  teachers  associated  with 
them  in  the  care  of  the  college  family,  there  is  no  reason 
to  believe  that  the  same  results  could  have  been  secured. 
Whether  it  is  practicable  to  engraft  on  the  existing 
colleges  for  young  men  the  special  provisions  for  social 
and  sanitary  care  so  important  for  young  women,  and  to 
incorporate  in  their  curricula  all  the  elements  of  a 
finished  womanly  culture,  is  a  question  for  the  managers 
of  those  colleges  to  decide.  Vassal*  only  protests,  in  the 
name  both  of  education  and  of  woman,  against  the  as 
sumption  of  this  great  responsibility  lightly.  To  admit 
women  by  a  side-door  into  a  man's  college,  to  assign  them 

t/  O  o 

seats  at  the  lower  end  of  the  bench  as  mere  tolerated  in 
truders,  and  the  crumbs  of  the  table  as  their  share  of 
the  banquet,  is  not  to  provide  for  the  higher  education  of 
women.  Indeed,  means  could  hardly  be  devised  more 
likely  to  lead  to  unfortunate  results,  or  to  bring  the  cause 
itself  into  contempt.  If  the  experiment  is  tried  at  all, 
let  it  be  with  a  distinct  recognition  of  all  that  it  in 
volves,  and  not  without  sufficient  means  to  warrant  a 
reasonable  hope  of  success. 

CONCLUSION. 

In  every  respect  but  one  the  managers  of  this  institu 
tion  have  reason  to  be  satisfied,  not  only  with  its  past 
success,  but  with  its  promise  for  the  future.  One  great 
desideratum  remains,  which  has  already  been  named, 
but  which  may  be  well  emphasized  by  a  second  mention 
at  the  close  of  this  report, — one  additional  feature  need 
ed  to  perfect  it  as  an  instrument  for  the  beneficial  pur 
poses  to  which  its  founder  pledged  it. 


77 


Provision  is  imperatively  needed,  in  the  form  of  State 
grants  or  of  scholarships  endowed  by  private  liberality, 
to  bring  its  advantages  within  the  reach  of  that  large 
class  to  whom  they  would  be  most  of  all  useful,  and  who 
Avould  turn  them  to  the  most  profitable  account,  both 
for  themselves  and  for  others. 

It  is  as  true  now  as  when  Luther  penned  the  decla 
ration,  in  his  celebrated  "  Letter  on  Education  to  the 
People  of  Germany,"  that  it  is  God's  way  to  take  the 
children  of  the  poor,  and  make  them  the  princes  in  the 
realm  of  literature, — the  thinkers,  writers,  and  teachers 
of  the  world.  Arid  it  is  the  glory  of  Christian  universi 
ties  and  colleges  that,  through  the  bounty  of  generous 
men  and  women,  their  advantages  have  always  been 
made  freely  accessible  to  the  children  of  the  poor.  Church 
and  state,  learning  and  science  and  religion,  have  all 
reaped  rich  harvests  from  this  wise  planting.  Hitherto, 
however,  this  beneficence  has  inured  exclusively  to  the 
benefit  of  the  sons ;  the  daughters,  though  equally 
ardent  in  their  desire  for  culture,  equally  capable  of 
acquisition,  and  equally  able  to  repay,  have  been 
debarred  from  all  participation.  The  age  is  rebuking 
the  policy  as  alike  cruel  and  short-sighted. 

The  great  State  of  New  York,  which  gave  its  hundreds 
of  thousands  to  the  colleges  for  young  men  to  help  their 
struggling  infancy  and  enable  them  to  educate  those  who 
were  too  poor  to  educate  themselves,  has  not  yet  con 
tributed  anything  to  endow  institutions  for  the  similar 
culture  of  its  daughters;  no  other  State  has  done  any 
better ;  and  but  one  solitary  person  in  all  the  land  has 
been  found  to  emulate  the  far- sighted  benevolence  of  the 


78 

Founder,  and  plant  a  free  scholarship  beside  the  Vassar 
Auxiliary  Fund.  There  is  nothing  to  discourage  in  this 

•J  o  O 

fact.  Time  is  necessary  to  complete  the  demonstration 
and  work  conviction  in  the  public  mind,  and  time  will 
surely  vindicate  all  that  is  true  and  provide  for  all  that 
is  precious  in  the  idea  of  liberal  education  for  woman. 


\J 


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